Oilers Looking for New Bench Boss, Fire Knoblauch

The Edmonton Oilers were the Western Conference champions in back-to-back seasons. Things looked promising as the franchise sought to earn their first Stanley Cup since 1990. Their 2025-26 season was derailed by injuries to stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers were ousted in the first round of the playoffs in six games by the Ducks. While changes were expected, most were projected to be on the ice.

Instead, the first change made in Alberta comes behind the bench.  Edmonton parted ways with coach Kris Knoblauch after three seasons with the franchise. What does it mean for the Oilers going forward? We break it down.

Knoblauch’s History

Knoblauch took over the Oilers early in the 2023-24 season and led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell to the Panthers in seven games. He led the Oilers to a 48-29-5 mark in 2024-25 and led Edmonton back to the Stanley Cup Finals. Edmonton again fell to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals in six games. This season, Edmonton struggled to a 41-30-11 record and fell to Anaheim in the opening round.

In his career, Knoblauch posted a regular season mark of 135-77-21, giving him a .624 points percentage. The Oilers were 31-22 in the postseason under his guidance.

Was This the Right Call?

It’s hard to say that Knoblauch was the issue here. For starters, he wasn’t on the ice. It wasn’t his fault that Draisaitl missed 17 regular season games or Zach Hyman missed 24. In addition, you can’t blame him for McDavid being hampered by an ankle injury he sustained in Game 2 against the Ducks. Furthermore, Knoblauch isn’t responsible for the makeup of the roster. He didn’t put together a soft defensive group or a shoddy goaltending situation.

Edmonton finished 25th in goals against during the regular season and had four goalies start at least 13 games. None posted a .900 save percentage and only Connor Ingram (2.7) posted a positive goals saved above average on the year. Meanwhile, Tristan Jarry, Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner combined for -29.2 goals saved above average.

What’s Next?

That remains to be seen. Stan Bowman, the GM of the franchise and the man responsible for building this roster, still has a job. Whoever takes over the reins marks the Oilers’ 10th coach in 15 seasons. It marks the sixth coach for McDavid and the eighth for Draisaitl since each was drafted. Quite simply, that’s a ton of turnover at the top for any franchise.

While there clearly are issues with the team, roster construction is one of those. Getting the players to buy in to whoever the next coach, and their strategy, is something that has to happen. Until we see who ends up with the job, it’s tough to give this a fair grade. The one thing that is clear is that Knoblauch deserved a better fate. Pushing the Panthers to the limit twice in the Stanley Cup Finals, with a flawed roster, is worthy of running it back. Had the Oilers improved their defense and goaltending, yet fell flat in  2026-27,  then perhaps a move is made.

Instead, the coach, who had inked a three-year extension that hasn’t STARTED yet, finds himself on the unemployment line. Talk about misfortune.