Oilers coach Knoblauch called out for awful new strategy with top forwards

The Oilers offensive production has taken a significant downturn this year, with analysts mostly placing the blame on too much perimeter play. Now 14 games into the season, there's data to back that up.

Oilers analyst Brad McPherson showed that Coach Knoblauch is in fact deploying a more perimeter-style offence this season. It's even drawing comparisons to the Dave Tippett era.

In the last four seasons, the Oilers have been the complete opposite of a perimeter team.

Most of their scoring chances came from in the slot, and with their skill, they're able to bury those chances.

For a complete reversal in where their offence comes from, there has to be some direction from Coach Knoblauch preaching this style of hockey.

With a team like the Edmonton Oilers, playing low-event hockey is objectively a terrible choice. Their high-octane offence is put on a leash and restricted from taking over a game, while putting more pressure on their struggling defence and weak goaltending.

If the Oilers are truly trying to win low-scoring games, that's just a poor strategy on a team that has the 28th best save percentage.

At the same time, the Oilers offence has just struggled out of the gate this season - including Connor McDavid who still has only 3 goals. Nobody doubts that their stars will be able to kick the offence into high gear when needed.

For now though, the Oilers find themselves with a middling record of 6-5-3 and not maximizing their strengths. Coach Knoblauch needs to make a change, and start prioritizing net-front offence once again.