RUMOR: Oilers’ McLellan FURIOUS at one of his star players

Despite owning a 2-1 series in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Edmonton Oilers’ head coach Todd McLellan is not happy with the play of one of his team’s young forwards.

TSN reporter and Oilers insider Ryan Rishaug was on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN1260 this morning and revealed what the McLellan really thinks of Jordan Eberle. Rishaug himself called out Eberle saying, “Right now Jordan Eberle is a passenger… It’s a huge problem for the Oilers and it’s a big problem for Eberle. The effort level, the intensity level, the try, the desire, the will, is not there. And this is the playoffs. He’s been waiting for this his whole career and he’s not trying hard enough.”

When asked for McLellan’s opinion on Eberle, Rishaug shared, “Just because Todd decided to rip Eberle after last night it doesn’t mean this is the first time he’s been insanely pissed with him. He might have been furious after Game One, I guarantee he was furious with Eberle after Game 2, no question about it.”

Wow. That’s some strong language.

To be fair to both McLellan and Eberle, the former was asked about the latter after game 3 and said only, “Not Enough. This is a new experience for him and he’s learning as he goes as well. It’s great to be making strong plays on the boards and checking well, but you also have to find a way to contribute on the power play and  he’s not the only one, but he’s the one that stands out right now.”

Whether Rishaug’s assessment of the situation is to be believed or not, there’s no arguing that Eberle has to be better if the Oilers expected to seriously compete for a Stanley Cup. The 26 year old is goalless and has just two assists in 9 playoff games so far this postseason.