The Edmonton Oilers struggled with defending and goaltending in the playoffs. A report then leaked that they were trying to interview another coach without firing Kris Knoblauch first.
The Edmonton Oilers have been making news of late, and not in a good way.
On Tuesday, Victory+ insider Frank Seravalli reported the Vegas Golden Knights denied the Oilers permission to interview fired coach Bruce Cassidy. And on Wednesday, Sportsnet's Mark Spector said he expects the Oilers to fire coach Kris Knoblauch, likely by day's end.
While preventing Cassidy from interviewing with Edmonton arguably did not reflect well on Vegas management, the Oilers look bad for allowing this news to leak out. They've essentially put an end to his time coaching Edmonton without the care and concern to formally fire him and allow him to pursue a new opportunity. Even if it's not unusual to kick tires on other coaches before deciding whether to fire their own, it's not a good look when reports come out about it.
But the Cassidy report wasn't the only leak affecting the Oilers over the past month. They had similar issues on the ice.
In fact, the Oilers were a leaky machine in the playoffs, averaging a league-worst 4.33 goals against in a first-round loss to the Anaheim Ducks. That's a full half-goal more than the next-most porous defense (surprisingly, the Dallas Stars and Utah Mammoth at 3.83 goals per game).
The Oilers also allowed the second-most shots against per game in the playoffs, a drastic difference from during the regular season, when they actually averaged the eighth-fewest shots against.
Knoblauch was unable to provide the structure and strategy Edmonton needed against Anaheim, and we've said since the pre-season that Knoblauch was likely to be fired unless the Oilers got back to the Stanley Cup final for the third straight year. Even then, not winning the Cup could have put Knoblauch on the hot seat.
But Knoblauch did enough good work this year to at least get the respect of being fired rather than doing what Edmonton is doing and leaving him in limbo while they shake the trees for a potential replacement.
Finally, perhaps the biggest leak for the Oilers is still their goaltending.
You can critique Edmonton GM Stan Bowman's other roster moves all you want, but the trade for veteran goalie Tristan Jarry ended up being a stunningly ill-advised move. Jarry played in one game against the Anaheim Ducks in the first round, and he posted an .895 save percentage and a 3.84 GAA. During the regular season, he had a 3.86 GAA and .858 SP in 19 games with Edmonton.
Jarry's tandem-mate, Connor Ingram, was not much better in the playoffs. In four of five games against the Ducks, Ingram's save percentage sat between .893 and .815. His .899 save percentage during the season was OK but not what the Oilers need from a starting goalie. But at least Ingram is about to be a UFA this summer, so there's no financial entanglement the Oilers have with him.
The same can't be said for Jarry, who has another two years left at $5.375 million per season. When it makes more sense to buy out Jarry only six months after acquiring him, that's a giant offense by Bowman. A fireable offense? Definitely, if Bowman can't find a suitable replacement in net this summer.
So, between the leak about Knoblauch and Cassidy, the leak in the Oilers' own zone, and the mess in their net, it's clear why Edmonton's ship is sinking. This is not what superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl signed up for, and this is why Bowman needs to plug the holes in his organization in a hurry.
If Bowman doesn't do that, the Oilers' GM job will be the latest thing to open up. Edmonton's coach next season – be it Cassidy, someone else or still Knoblauch – is going to be in Cup-or-bust mode from Day 1 on the job. But by this time next year, we anticipate the Oilers will look notably different from the way they do today.
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