The Edmonton Oilers headed into the Olympic Break on a losing skid, and star center Leon Draisaitl's pointed comments about the team needing improvement include coach Kris Knoblauch. If the Oilers don't turn things around soon, will Knoblauch's job security be jeopardized?
With the NHL’s 2026 Olympics break now in effect, no NHL figure may need it more than Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.
The Oilers have lost five of their last eight games – with all the losses coming in regulation time – and they currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division, only one standings point ahead of the eighth-place Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference standings, and just four points ahead of the ninth-place Los Angeles Kings. The Ducks and Kings each have two games in hand on Edmonton.
You can see, then, why tension is mounting in Oilers Land. And continued disappointing results for Edmonton could influence Knoblauch’s job security. When one of your main star players is pointing a finger at you as a coach, keeping your job may not be possible for long.
That potential process has started for Knoblauch, after star center Leon Draisaitl openly suggested the entire team needs to improve, specifically pointing to coaching as the first area.
“It starts with coaches,” Draisaitl told the Edmonton Journal about the team needing to be better. “Like everybody, like you’re never gonna win if you have four or five guys going. And it starts at the top. We can be better. Our leaders can be better.”
You can argue that Draisaitl mentioned coaching first without assigning most of the blame to Knoblauch and his staff. That could be true. But here’s what’s also true: the NHL’s coaching business eats up and spits out countless coaches – and Knoblauch’s naysayers will point out Knoblauch has been on the job more than two years now, without getting them to the promised land as Stanley Cup champions.
While it’s true Knoblauch has done fairly well in winning the Western Conference two years running, it’s also the case that he hasn’t been able to deliver a championship to Edmonton.
Kris Knoblauch has a coaching record of 122-69-18 in the regular season and 29-18 in the post-season. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)As we all know, the clock is ticking on superstar center Connor McDavid’s contract. So while the team won’t ever confirm it, Knoblauch only has so much time left to win a Cup. Otherwise, he’s going to be cast aside like the other four Oilers coaches in the McDavid Era.
If that’s what turns out to be the case, are the Oilers the team that veteran bench boss Peter DeBoer returns to the NHL with? Stranger things have happened. But DeBoer’s track record will almost certainly get him consideration for the Edmonton job should they pink-slip Knoblauch.
There’s always another option for you as an NHL coach, and only coaches who’ve relentlessly won – and won championships – have true job security. Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper can coach there as long as he wants, until further notice. The same goes for Paul Maurice with the Florida Panthers, and for Jared Bednar with the Colorado Avalanche.
But the same can’t be said for the majority of the NHL’s coaching fraternity. And that’s true for Knoblauch. He needs his Oilers to take that next, hardest, final competitive step – or else his next steps will be into the unemployment line.
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