It’s possible that the Edmonton Oilers have made an exceptional decision by hiring Kris Knoblauch as their new head coach, but it seems more likely that they either bent over backwards to appease Connor McDavid or let him play GM.
Knoblauch may well succeed in Edmonton, but looking at his resume from a 30,000-foot perspective it’s tough to see an obvious NHL head-coaching candidate.
Knoblauch has a strong resume at the CHL level, but he has yet to make a strong impact coaching men.
Since his last season in the OHL (2016-17), the coach spent two years as an assistant with the Philadelphia Flyers — where he led the NHL’s 17th-ranked power play — and four years as the head coach of the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack.
During that time the Wolfpack went 112-87-31, good for a winning percentage of .487, and made the playoffs just once.
None of this proves that Knoblauch is a bad coach. The man has won WHL and OHL titles, after all. But he’s not someone who would’ve been on the radar of too many NHL teams other than the Oilers. That makes it clear that the fact he coached McDavid with the Erie Otters was a critical factor in his hiring.
Having an existing relationship with the Oilers’ most important player is a positive, but it’s unclear whether it’s enough of one to have Knoblauch leapfrog other potential candidates with a track record of significant NHL success — either as head coaches or assistants.
This hiring invited questions about how much of a say the Oilers players, but particularly McDavid, had in this decision. That question was answered in a way that didn’t inspire confidence as president and GM Ken Holland alluded to talking to his veteran players while CEO Jeff Jackson was quick to say the players weren’t consulted on the decision at all.
The mixed message leaves room for two interpretations — neither of which reflect particularly well on the Oilers.
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It’s possible the Oilers did talk to McDavid and their veteran players about the coaching situation and that played a role in Woodcroft’s firing and the installation of Knoblauch behind the bench. However, Jackson doesn’t want to seem like the players have an undue amount of power within the organization, so he’s denying that.
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The Oilers truly didn’t really involve their players in this choice, but independently came to the conclusion that their best course of action was to get a guy with a relatively thin recent resume because they put a massive premium on keeping McDavid happy.
The first scenario implies that McDavid and the veterans were exerting a level of control we don’t often see from NHL players and Oilers management is concerned about or ashamed of that. The second suggests that McDavid has so much power in the building that he doesn’t need to say anything for the team to make major decisions that prioritize accommodating him above all else.
McDavid is good enough that everything the Oilers do should have him in mind to some degree, but the latest hiring speaks to a power dynamic that might not be healthy. Either he is pulling the strings, or the fear of him becoming unsatisfied and possibly leaving following the 2025-26 season is strong enough that he doesn’t have to.
Another wrinkle in this situation that makes Edmonton’s decision-making look suspect is the addition of Paul Coffey behind the bench as an assistant to Knoblauch.
Coffey is a franchise legend, but the top item on his coaching resume is a part of one season with the OJHL Pickering Panthers — a team he co-owns— back in 2014-15. The team won 37.0% of its games that season, and the most notable moment from Coffey’s coaching career is likely the Hall of Fame defenceman getting suspended for using a “discriminatory slur” while behind the bench for a AAA midget game.
Although Coffey may have something to offer at the NHL level, he’s not the type of steady hand and proven commodity you’d hope to pair with a new head coach low on experience steering teams at the highest level of the sport.
To be fair, any criticism that can be levied at the Oilers right now is about their process. We don’t know the results of their coaching moves yet.
Considering Edmonton has the best 5v5 expected goal rate in the NHL (57.82%), all the components of a power play that made history last season and a team save percentage (.864) that’s bound to improve, it’s exceedingly likely that this team bounces back this year.
Whether the magnitude of that positive regression will be enough to save their season remains to be seen, but Knoblauch is in an excellent position to look like a force for good, no matter how much credit he deserves.
That means that in a few months, there’s a solid chance the Oilers will look like they made the right move, even if they probably would’ve improved under Woodcroft had they kept him. Before they get any plaudits for that, it’s worth taking note of the dubious way they’ve gone about their business — and the power McDavid seems to have gained within the organization, whether it’s something he’s wielding overtly or not.
