Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch spoke to the media following the team’s game against the Seattle Kraken and shed more light on their plan with healthy scratching veteran forwards.

Corey Perry was named a healthy scratch last night for the first time this season, as the Oilers are currently carrying 13 NHL quality forwards.

Coach Knoblauch has now hinted that Perry will likely draw back into the lineup for the next game, meaning another player will come out – the coach did not specify who.

»It’s never easy to take a player out, especially a player like Corey, but it’s not gonna be very long. We’ll get him in the lineup very soon. It’s just that we have a lot of guys playing well, and I think it’s important that the players we have here aren’t sitting out for too long.»

– Coach Knoblauch

 

The Oilers have the best problem a team could have – too many deserving NHL players. If Knoblauch wants to make sure no one is sitting too long, the coach could planning a rotation of sitting veterans.

Oilers Will Keep Extra Forward on Roster, Have Rotating Scratches For Time Being

For an older team like the Oilers, this could be beneficial to getting the most out of their players too.

Corey Perry is 39 years old and doesn’t need to play every back to back game. Veterans Derek Ryan and Jeff Skinner have been scratched. The next candidates to sit out could be players like Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, and Kasperi Kapanen.

Rotating these players in and out of the lineup allows opportunities to give players maintenance days for minor injuries, and also keeps players hungry to stay in the lineup. If there’s an injury, the Oilers aren’t too stressed about their depth either.

Just before the holiday freeze, Coach Knoblauch hinted that the Oilers won’t risk losing a player to waivers. In combination with yesterday’s comments, it looks like the Oilers will roll with the extra player on the roster.

Hopefully the players and coach can all benefit from this situation, and use it best to have the Oilers in a prime situation heading into the playoffs.