Oilers coach singles out new free agent signing to bring more to the team
Photo credit: Lauren Kyle McDavid Instagram
The Edmonton Oilers signed Andrew Mangiapane to a low-risk free agent signing, but early returns have been disappointing this season.
Now 29 years old, Mangiapane signed for just 2 years at a modest price of $3.6M. It's not an overly costly deal to the Oilers, but they need more than what he's bringing this year. In 30 games, Mangiapane has just 10 points and a -15 rating.
Edmonton Oilers coach singles out Andrew Mangiapane to bring more
Speaking to the media after practice today, Coach Knoblauch specifically called on Mangiapane to bring some more to the team.
The Oilers bench boss somewhat admitted that Mangiapane's faded as the season has worn on, and directed him to start crashing the net to bring more energy to the team.
We had him come in with the idea he would be in a top six role but that faded a bit.
We'd like more offence, more energy. There's more than he's giving us now. He's played with McDavid and Draisaitl but what suits him best is the same as our team game, simplifying, being a bit quicker. That's a case for him.
Rather than slowing down, pulling up, looking for a delay, there has to be a little more of slinging pucks, crashing the net.
- Coach Knoblauch
We'd like more offence, more energy. There's more than he's giving us now. He's played with McDavid and Draisaitl but what suits him best is the same as our team game, simplifying, being a bit quicker. That's a case for him.
Rather than slowing down, pulling up, looking for a delay, there has to be a little more of slinging pucks, crashing the net.
- Coach Knoblauch
Knoblauch is entirely right to call on Mangiapane to make more of an impact on the ice, and he's begun to use him differently based on his level of play.
Mangiapane played just 9 minutes of ice time in the Oilers last game, his second lowest rate of the season. That's basically 4th line minutes.
The Oilers will want to see much more from Mangiapane through the rest of this season, or they likely will be exploring options to move him this offseason.
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