Ceci Demotion Shows Oilers Already Grasping at Straws

The McDavid and Draisaitl Pairing

Thus far in his limited stint as coach, Knoblauch has shown a tendency to start the dynamic duo (well, formerly, anyways) on different lines. He then puts them together in the second period and splits them apart in the third — depending on the situation and the score. It hasn’t always been this way, but the pattern is there and he’s gone to that well a couple of times.

Unfortunately, neither player is playing terribly well. McDavid has spurts (like against Florida) where he was the best player on the ice and looks like he’s really moving, but there’s still something going on that’s out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, Draisaitl has points, but he’s lacking something when it comes to what fans are used to seeing. His shot is off, he appears frustrated, and he’s coasting at times, almost abandoning the idea of two-way hockey in the hopes he can spark the team by cheating for offense.

More importantly, these two rely on each other and, thus far, they’ve not been getting it done together.

The coach is probably trying to get them going by playing them together, but one has to wonder if maybe they should be earning that privilege and helping others in the top six. Get the power play clicking (which it isn’t), the let them have their 5-v-5 time together.

Cody Ceci to the Third Pair?

Of any of the defensemen on this team, perhaps Cody Ceci is the one player that no one is talking about. And, when it comes to the blue line, that’s a good thing. Moving him to the third pair seems like an odd decision considering he’s been the team’s most consistent defender on a nightly basis.

No, he doesn’t bring you offense like Evan Bouchard does. He doesn’t fight like Vincent Desharnais does. Ceci also doesn’t fall apart on defense like Bouchard does or miss-read a play like Desharnais. As Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 points out, Ceci is the “Only defender on the ice for more goals for than against at 5×5. And he’s played 2nd most min. Haven’t seen many glaring errors from him.”

If the Oilers actually limit his minutes as they’ve done with other third-pairing defensemen, it’s a head-scratcher. All the while, there’s no sign that Bouchard is being held accountable for continual misplays and costly errors in his own end. Brett Kulak has played well, so this is to take nothing away from his game. That said, his promotion shouldn’t come at the expense of Ceci, who has done everything asked of him, including jumping into the play more often as this new coach prefers.

Janmark and McLeod on the Same Line, With Brown Out of Sight

Mattias Janmark slides back into the lineup tonight. He’ll play alongside Ryan McLeod and Derek Ryan. Ryan has been the only player of this trio to produce much. McLeod has not scored since last March 9 vs Boston. That’s 33 games now that he’s gone without a goal. Putting him in a third-line center spot will hopefully get him off the schneid, but Janmark is bound to be rusty.

Connor Brown, meanwhile, looks like he’s the extra forward. Understandably, he too hasn’t offered much and virtually nothing on offense, but he needs to keep getting looks. If he never gets going, his signing will be considered one of the biggest blunders of this off-season.

Anything can change leading into the game, and adjustments will clearly be made while the game is ongoing. That said, this lineup screams that the coach is already running out of ideas. That’s not a good sign just a few games into his tenure.