Why the Oilers are experimenting with tweaks to their power-play units

EDMONTON It was Adam Henrique who broke the tension on a subject that wasnt all that enjoyable for the central figures to discuss.

Dont say anything bad about me, Henrique said to Zach Hyman , causing the snake-bitten winger to pause his first answer to the assembled media and have a little chuckle.

Advertisement There wasnt much else to laugh about.

Hyman skated with Henrique on the second power-play unit at Edmonton Oilers practice on Wednesday instead of parking himself in his usual spot around the blue paint with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl orchestrating the action.

He wasnt the only player shuffled off the all-world group thats been ice-cold to start the season, either.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins , a key cog on the NHL s top power play over the last six seasons, was also with the Hyman-Henrique group.

Evan Bouchard got some time on the second unit, too.

Replacing the two forwards next to McDavid and Draisaitl were offseason signees Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson .

Mattias Ekholm bumped Bouchard down for the first drill.

All this to jolt a power play operating at a 10.5 percent rate, good for a tie for 28th in the NHL before Wednesdays games.

Youve got Bouchie, whos a point-a-game defenceman.

Nuggys scored 100 points.

Ive scored 50 goals.

Were all confident in our abilities, Hyman said.

Obviously, the coaching staff felt like they needed to make a change, and we were the ones who were changed out.

And thats completely fine.

Were all team players.

Everybody in this locker room wants to win.

At the same time, were pretty confident in our ability and weve proven it for years now.

I certainly liked the way it was, Draisaitl added.

But its not my decision to put units together.

All I can do is get out there and do my best.

Sometimes a little shakeup can be good.

Also, it doesnt mean that we cant always go back to the unit that had success.

Coach Kris Knoblauch played coy about whether those groupings will see ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

He also brushed it off as the team trying something in practice and to be prepared if there were ever injuries.

Advertisement To think that we can replace the first-unit power play that we have and be better, I dont think thats necessarily the case, Knoblauch said.

Thats maybe what were thinking (about) maybe having some different looks but not replacing our top power-play unit.

Just the fact that hes even test-driving removing up to three-fifths of his top power play is a huge deal.

The Oilers were operating at a league-best 27.3 percent clip from the time assistant coach Glen Gulutzan joined the organization and started running the man advantage at the start of 2018-19 through to the end of last season.

Gulutzan initially decided to have the first unit run through McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins and use the lone defenceman Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse , Tyson Barrie or Bouchard as the facilitator.

RNH, McDavid, Draisaitl and Hyman were mainstays when the Oilers scored on 32.4 percent of their power plays in 2022-23 a league record since the stat was first kept in 1977-78.

Bouchard replaced Barrie when the latter was dealt to Nashville for Ekholm before the trade deadline, and the effectiveness even marginally increased.

Thats the kind of stuff the players in question think about.

Weve been together a long time, Hyman said.

Weve probably been the best unit.

Weve set the record for power-play percentage in a year.

But we werent producing at the same rate were used to producing.

But thats a coaching question.

Thats where Knoblauchs thought process comes into play.

Not only is that main groups track record outstanding, but it was just two days earlier that Knoblauch stood behind the top players and preached the value of patience on Gulutzans recommendation.

All it took was one games worth of power-play work Tuesday against Carolina , which started with such promise before fizzling out, for Knoblauch to want to try something new in a practice.

Really, this is more along the lines of what he said just a few days prior.

After failing to score on either of their chances in a loss to Dallas on Saturday, Knoblauch said postgame he would be considering making some adjustments to the power play.

Advertisement Were just getting prepared, he said Wednesday.

As a team, you have to be prepared.

Were looking to see what our options are.

We havent gotten off the start that we wanted to, but to say we have to blow this up ...

I dont think that would be a good decision on our part.

The Oilers looked like they were in top form on their first attempt against the Hurricanes in a 3-2 overtime loss .

They zipped the puck around and hemmed the Carolina penalty killers in their zone.

Hyman had a good chance in tight that he put over the net.

McDavid then scored on the second attempt early in the second period.

Things appeared hunky-dory.

But two underwhelming tries later and the Oilers finished just 1-for-4, dropping them to 2-for-19 on the season.

We could have been 2-for-4, and everyone thinks thats 50 percent and everyones happy, Draisaitl said.

This is a new look, but this doesnt mean this is set in stone.

We know what we have with our unit.

Its just a matter of time for us to find that again.

The power play has been the backbone of the Oilers since they became a perennial playoff team in 2020.

Excellent production is one thing.

Making opposing players think twice about how they defend at five-on-five is another.

When were at our best, theres an element of fear on the other side that you dont want to give this team power plays, Hyman said.

Now, how theyve performed on the power play is removing that fear, and its killing their overall offence.

The Oilers have scored just 14 goals through seven games, a shockingly low two per contest that leaves them ahead of only the San Jose Sharks ahead of Wednesdays games, even though their underlying numbers at five-on-five specifically shot attempts for and against and expected goals are among the best in the league.

That was one thing that I didnt anticipate that we were going to have problems doing right now, Knoblauch said.

Our special teams have not been what we expect.

Advertisement It appears some players struggles on the power play are bleeding over into the regular shifts.

Neither Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins nor Arvidsson has scored yet.

Its not like Hyman has lacked for chances.

Per Natural Stat Trick, he has 4.08 individual expected goals in all situations.

He had a glorious opportunity after McDavid set him up on a two-on-one in the third period on Tuesday, but his backhander was stopped by his former Toronto teammate Frederik Andersen .

Its unfortunate that it happens at the beginning, Hyman said.

Ive got through stretches like this from Game 40 to 47 and nobody says anything because youve already banked some stats and goals.

Its tough, especially when were losing by one goal.

Thats what bothers me the most is when I have an opportunity to score to help us win.

Usually, those go in for me and those would be wins for us.

The other stuff, you get chances and eventually theyre going to go in.

Ive scored a bunch of goals in this league.

But theyre not going in right now for Hyman or for so many of his teammates.

The power-play woes are a big reason for that.

The unit simply has to start producing.

It just must.

The Oilers won two of their first seven games and need to turn things around.

If these new groupings move ahead into game action, its highly likely the tried-and-true first unit will be put back together if the revamped one struggles.

This could all be forgotten about in a few weeks.

But its eyebrow-rising right now and its certainly got the players attention.

If there is value in it and theres something positive in it, then well obviously take it and run with it, Draisaitl said.

Ive got not much more to say on that.

Its a new look and well see how it goes tomorrow.

(Top photo: Perry Nelson / Imagn Images).

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