Oilers coach Knoblauch called out for major issue with ice time deployment
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
According to reports, the over-usage of stars and under-usage of prospects is a strategy that Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch could soon come to regret.
The heavy use of their top stars has been coupled with an underuse of younger, less-established NHLers.
The Oilers have shied away from giving their youngsters meaningful minutes for quite some time. Two fantastic players, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, signed offer sheets just over a year ago, partly due to a lack of opportunity to progress their careers in Edmonton.
- Oilersnation
The Oilers have shied away from giving their youngsters meaningful minutes for quite some time. Two fantastic players, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, signed offer sheets just over a year ago, partly due to a lack of opportunity to progress their careers in Edmonton.
- Oilersnation
Head coach risks fatigue of his two top players in an Olympic year
In the first five games, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are averaging more than 23:00 of TOI, leading the NHL in that category and playing at a rate that is higher than any other forward's in the past ten years.
Looking at McDavid's and Draisaitl's TOI stats over the last three years, the increased ice-time is apparent. According to Natural Stat Trick, since 2023-24, McDavid's TOI has increased by 2:29, most of which is accounted for by his use on the penalty-kill, from 4 seconds in 2024-25, to 1:33 this year.
Draisaitl's TOI is also because of his play on the PK. In 2024-25, he was used for 3 seconds only, while this year so far it's up to 1:35. Since 2023-24, Leon's TOI has increased by 1:32.
In the first five games at least, it seems that playing McDrai in situations where their offense is least effective is probably not the optimal approach for Knoblauch, whose over-usage of the two stars could have adverse effects moving forward.
The Oilers have played deep into the postseason two years running, playing a considerable amount of games more than all other teams, except Florida. Given both McDavid and Draisaitl will be playing in the Winter Olympics in 2026, risking fatigue of the team's two best players may not, again, be the best strategy for the coach.
The Oilers currently rank 30th in the NHL in goals per 60 minutes at 5v5.
The other side of the ice-time mismanagement is the low-usage and healthy scratches of its U25 players like Matthew Savoie, Isaac Howard, Vasily Podkolzin, and Noah Philip, creating a top-heavy imbalance in the roster.
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