The Edmonton Oilers will scratch two veteran forwards Tuesday night.
Andrew Mangiapane and Trent Frederic will both be healthy scratches when the Oilers host the Nashville Predators.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch announced the changes after the team’s morning skate, with Kasperi Kapanen slated to draw back into the lineup. Kapanen was skating on the second line with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin.
It has been a tough first season for Mangiapane after signing a two-year, $7.2-million contract this past off-season. The 29-year-old has recorded five goals and 11 points in 40 games so far and has been rumoured to be on the trade block.
Frederic is in the first season of an eight-year, $30.8-million contract and has struggled to be productive. The 26-year-old has two goals and one assist while averaging 11:06 of ice time per game.
“Things haven’t worked out. And not that it’s over, but I think that one, we’ve felt that they haven’t played as we’ve expected and I think that there’s more for them to give us,” Knoblauch told reporters. “We’ve got some young guys that deserve to get some opportunities to play.”
Knoblauch says that general manager Stan Bowman is on board with the decision to leave Mangiapane and Frederic out of the lineup despite their contracts.
The Oilers coach says that they’re also looking at the long-term outlook with some of their young players who they want to see get playing time.
“(Quinn) Hutson was here, obviously he’s not here now, but (Isaac) Howard being in the lineup, (Curtis) Lazar, who has been a scratch for the last couple games, had been playing really well and then came out,” Knoblauch said.
“We got a lot of guys who can play the bottom six and right now we’re just wanting more from those guys and a little bit of a reset for those two.”
Fans in the Oilers region can watch the Oilers taking on the Predators at 7 p.m. MT/ 9 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
