Edmonton Oilers: What Do The Last 2 Moves Mean For The Team?
By Phil Gretzky
The New Coach: Ken Hitchcock
After a few games behind the bench, Hitchcock has put his stamp on this team. The most notable changes he’s made is to make up what he calls an “identity line” – probably because the term “checking line” has fallen out of favor in the NHL – but that’s what the line is.
Hitchcock claims the line will generate offense via physical play – and although there’s no doubt the line of Lucic – Brodziak – Kassian has been physical and is getting chances, like a lot of players this year all three players are having trouble finishing their chances.
Lucic, in particular, is under the gun for sure as last year he finished with a shooting % of 6.8% and this year it’s 3.4%, which explains why he’s actually tracking to finish with even fewer points than last year (his career average is 13.5%, which is much closer to NHL average as you can see here).
Will it work? Tough to say, but it’s worth a gamble considering that he’s had ample time on both lines in the top 6 and continues to struggle. When all else fails, try something outside the box? In today’s game built on speed the tea leaves say it won’t, but never say never.
The other change is the use of Ty Rattie, or the lack thereof. Rattie has been noticeably absent from the lineup, and as Jesse Puljujarvi is back from Bakersfield and going to be taking a more prominent role on the team, that only pushes Rattie outside the lineup even more.
Rattie fell out of favor with Hitchcock when both were in St. Louis, and you can see Rattie has been scratched more often than not since Hitchcock came on board. It remains to be seen what they’ll do with him – he has a 1-way contract so they can’t even send him down to Bakersfield without having to put him on waivers.
If I had to guess I’d say he’s a prime candidate for the trade deadline, and they might give him time on the 4th line eventually if the team keeps losing.
Anyway, we’ll see what happens here.