The Edmonton Oilers reportedly fired coach Kris Knoblauch, but hockey fans took to social media to say who they think should have been fired instead.
The Edmonton Oilers fired coach Kris Knoblauch on Thursday.
Edmonton also fired assistant coach Mark Stuart. The Oilers made the news official after TSN's Ryan Rishaug reported it earlier Thursday.
"Following a thorough review of this past season, we believe these changes are needed," Oilers GM Stan Bowman said.
The 47-year-old brought the Oilers to back-to-back Stanley Cup final appearances but lost both. Edmonton finished this regular season with eight fewer points than last year, although they still ranked second in the Pacific Division. In the playoffs, they lost in six games to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round.
Knoblauch had already signed a three-year contract extension last October that was scheduled to begin next season. Seven months later, he's out of the job.
But many hockey fans on social media platform X were quick to blame Bowman and the front office for the team's step back, not the coach.
"And Bowman's circus will have a new ringleader, what a sick joke for McDrai," wrote @Barsky420.
"It's tradition!" @CrockerBrock wrote. "Finally time to take (Connor McDavid) off the PK? Knoblauch wasn't even at the top of my list, but clearly this organization has a management problem. Good luck coach, you got us to back-to-back finals. On to the next."
"(Oilers CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson) and Bowman should have been shown the door first," @tcoyle13 posted.
Knoblauch coached his first game for the Oilers on Nov. 13, 2023, after the team went 5-12-1 to start the season and fired coach Jay Woodcroft. In the final 64 games of that season, the team went 44-15-5, decreased its average goals against from 4.00 to 2.56, increased its average goals-for from 2.94 to 3.73, and significantly improved its special teams.
They nearly pulled off a reverse sweep of the Florida Panthers in the 2024 Stanley Cup final but lost Game 7.
After that campaign, GM Ken Holland and the Oilers mutually agreed to part ways. Jackson hired Bowman as Holland's replacement.
Bowman re-signed Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm to contract extensions to ensure the core stayed intact.
He also acquired center Adam Henrique, left winger Matt Savoie, right winger Vasily Podkolzin, defenseman Jake Walman, goaltender Connor Ingram and defenseman Connor Murphy.
But some decisions that drew criticism from the hockey world or ultimately didn't pan out well were acquiring center Trent Frederic from the Boston Bruins and signing him to an eight-year contract extension, signing left winger Andrew Mangiapane to a two-year contract only to trade him at the deadline, trading away Viktor Arvidsson, not re-signing Corey Perry and Connor Brown, and trading Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak in a a package for goalie Tristan Jarry.
The pressure grew on the Oilers to address their goaltending situation after Skinner started the season with an 11-8-4 record, .891 save percentage and 2.83 goals-against average. Jarry had a .909 SP and 2.66 GAA with the Penguins when Edmonton acquired him, but his stats ended up being worse than Skinner's were with the Oilers, recording an .858 SP and 3.86 GAA.
"No coach survives Skinner for Jarry," @Jb5haw wrote.
"I love that Knoblauch was brought in and immediately took the team to back-to-back finals but a first-round exit is all on him. Not the GM who brought in Jarry and Ingram," @KnightCapHockey posted.
"Maybe they needed a coaching change, but as long as Stan Bowman is running the ship there the coach isn't going to matter," said writer Adam Gretz.
Knoblauch's firing also comes after Victory+ insider Frank Seravalli reported on Monday that the Vegas Golden Knights withheld permission from the Oilers to interview Bruce Cassidy, who was fired late in the regular season.
"Makes absolutely no sense," @loftsportsusa said. "This guy was the best coach the Oilers had in years and they toss him out like yesterday's trash."
Rishaug said if the Oilers planned to fire Knoblauch all along, then their handling of it was "horrendous." He also said he has to think Bowman and Jackson are on the clock.
"If they wanted to explore Cassidy as an option, and if it didn't work out retain Kris, then it was risky - if it got out, they'd be scuttling a coach they just re-signed and were considering keeping," Rishaug wrote on X. "The fact it got out made a return for Knoblauch impossible."
Knoblauch finishes his Oilers tenure with a 135-77-21 record in the regular season and a 31-22 record in the playoffs.
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