Edmonton Oilers could upset Zach Hyman with questionable coaching move
Photo credit: NHLPA
The Edmonton Oilers have seen a seismic shift in their roster leading up to tomorrow's game against the Boston Bruins. Recently, head coach Kris Knoblauch made the decision to elevate Connor Brown to the top line, relegating Zach Hyman to the third line. While fans have only seen a small sample size of Knoblauch's new line combos, they run the risk of of angering Zach Hyman in the process.
According to Jim Parsons of NTT, Jason Strudwick brought up an interesting point during Sunday night's Got Yer' Back podcast. Asking why there is so much line juggling going on while the Oilers are winning, the former NHL defenseman believes that the coach is trying to keep this group of players on their toes and engaged.
Knoblauch recently admitted that he aims to spread out the teams offence, but also also mentioned that he wanted to reward Connor Brown for his recent uptick in scoring.
While he reassured fans that Hyman's new spot on the third line was far from a demotion, it does raise questions about whether the Oilers run the risk of frustrating Hyman with all these sudden changes.
Strudwick wonders if there is more to it and explains:
«I believe that one of the reasons that we see Knoblauch moving around is to keep them on edge, not that they're playing bad, not that he's punishing anyone, but he wants to keep things kind of exciting for the team and or maybe more importantly or a better word, new.»
-Jason Strudwick
As per Jim Parsons, Rob Brown agreed to a point but asked how Zach Hyman might feel about going from Connor McDavid's line down to Mattias Janmark's. He asked,
-Jason Strudwick
As per Jim Parsons, Rob Brown agreed to a point but asked how Zach Hyman might feel about going from Connor McDavid's line down to Mattias Janmark's. He asked,
«Do you think it's new and exciting for Adam Henrique to go from being a third-line center down to a fourth-line center?» Brown contended, «To me, I honestly believe that you're going to see Hyman back with McDavid right away.»
« so I understand wanting to keep the players guessing to a point.» What do you do when Hyman starts to wonder why after a 54-goal season, he's on your third line?"
-Rob Brown
-Rob Brown
I think we all know Zach Hyman would never be the type of player that would complain or put up a stink about losing his spot, but Hyman is a 50+ goal scorer, and placing him on the bottom 6 feels strange.
Will Kris Knoblauch keep him on the 3rd line for the forseeable future? Time will tell.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 6 | 295 ANSWERS Edmonton Oilers could upset Zach Hyman with questionable coaching move Do you think the Edmonton Oilers are risking angering Zach Hyman? | ||
| Yes | 99 | 33.6 % |
| No | 196 | 66.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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