It’s simple, folks. Todd McLellan, head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, badly botched the Benoit Pouliot situation and now what is supposed to be a useful veteran has been rendered useless. Fans and media alike continually complained about Pouliot’s offensive zone penalties, and finally McLellan did something about it.
He had to do something about it. Pouliot scored a goal for Edmonton, but took two awful offensive zone penalties back on October 16th against Buffalo. The result? Pouliot played just 4:34 in that tilt and was stapled to the bench for the second a third periods.
He returned to action against Carolina that Tuesday, the very next game, but wasn’t very effective. In reality, he hasn’t been an effective player since that weekend. Sure, the offensive zone penalties have gone down, but Pouliot hasn’t recorded a point since October 26th against Washington when he scored a pair of goals.
That’s eleven straight games without a point for someone who is supposed to be a top-six winger, someone who is supposed to be able to provide secondary offense and form an effective duo with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. That duo has not been effective, and RNH has struggled offensively at five-on-five. Pouliot’s struggles are a big reason why.
The Biggest Concern:
Benoit Pouliot isn’t scoring, but every player goes through stretches where they struggle. Connor McDavid hasn’t scored a goal in ten games, it happens. The problem is that Pouliot isn’t doing the little things that made him such an effective player during his first two seasons in Edmonton.
During the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, Pouliot was Edmonton’s most underrated player. He was extremely aggressive in the offensive zone and forced opposing players to make quick decisions with the puck. As a result, Pouliot forced a lot of turnovers and broke up a lot of opposition rushes. Even when he wasn’t scoring, he was still effective.
During this lengthy slump, Pouliot isn’t even doing that. He’s not playing his aggressive style, he’s not getting into passing lanes, using his stick and forcing turnovers. No, instead Pouliot is playing a careful and cautious game. And you know what, it’s having the desired effect.
Pouliot hasn’t taken any offensive zone penalties in what seems like forever. In fact, Pouliot has only accumulated four penalty minutes during this eleven game slump, serving a minor Tuesday in Anaheim and last Friday against Dallas.
Benoit Pouliot is playing a conservative and careful game to avoid offensive zone penalties, but in doing so he’s destroyed his game. He’s no longer aggressive and is no longer doing the little things as a result. In turn, his offensive numbers have fallen to career lows.
McLellan’s Role:
Todd McLellan is a strong veteran coach. Most of the time, he’s able to hit the right buttons and motivate the guys. His message got through to Pouliot, but it’s actually impacted his game in a negative way. The coach’s job is to now make this player effective again.
Unfortunately, that’s going to mean dealing with the offensive zone penalties. That’s a byproduct of Pouliot playing aggressive, and as Rob Soria mentioned in a Twitter conversation we had, the Oilers are just going to have to live with it. A good veteran coach, like I believe McLellan to be, would take the leash off and let his player run free.
Todd McLellan needs to do that with Benoit Pouliot. Tell him not to worry about the penalties, just go out there and play his game. The Oilers, who have only one effective offensive line, badly need secondary scoring and Pouliot can help provide it.
Getting Pouliot playing his game again should be a priority for the Oilers, and it falls on the shoulders of their coach just as much as the player himself.
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