The Edmonton Oilers have had an on-again, off-again relationship with former star player Paul Coffey for most of a decade. When first hired by owner Daryl Katz in 2018, there was a “Boys on the Bus” vibe that recalled the days when former members of the team were hired with what was well short of a thorough search.
Back then, Coffey was a development coach. This time, he will reprise his most recent role with the team and run the defence from the bench. His arrival came after a rancid eight-game homestand prior to the Olympic break. The Oilers had become stale in the defensive zone, no longer used short, effective passes as the primary breakout weapon, and had a several-mile gap between defencemen and forwards on said breakouts.
The Oilers were a mess. The breakouts were predictable, easy to outfox, and delivered ghastly results. Everyone knew something had to be done, and the Coffey hiring appears to be the central piece to solving the problems on defence. What can Coffey do?
Five-on-five
A big part of Coffey’s job will be five-on-five improvement. That could include all manner of tweaks, including more creative passing, using more than one outlet wrinkle, and focusing on fewer shifts spent defending.
Coffey was part of a successful defensive staff in 2023-24 and 2024-25, as Edmonton made it to the Stanley Cup Final each spring. Here’s a quick comparison of the last three seasons defensively. The gap between the Coffey seasons and this one is stark.
YearGA-60X-GA 60Goal Pct
2023-24
2.3
2.4
56
2024-25
2.52
2.38
50
2025-26
2.78
2.72
47
All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick
The Oilers are running in place offensively, coming in just shy of 2.5 goals per 60 at five-on-five each season. Coffey helped the team hum at 2.9 goals per 60 in 2024-25, but that was a different team, and the concern now is the spike in GA-60 in 2025-26.
Individually, the Oilers’ defence has had varying results. In 2023-24, the team rolled the top two pairings about evenly, and the results ranged from exceptional (the Evan Bouchard-Mattias Ekholm pairing) to solid (Darnell Nurse lining up with Cody Ceci):
PlayerMins-GameGA-60Goal Pct
17:59
2.39
61
17:29
2.54
50
17:16
2.19
64
16:47
2.49
52
14:10
2.27
51
13:29
1.71
49
All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick
Ekholm-Bouchard ran a 63 percent goal share in 2023-24, while Nurse-Ceci were at 53 percent. The top pair is the superior unit, but part of the gap in goal share came from feature minutes for Ekholm-Bouchard with the Connor McDavid line. The Oilers had two veteran pairings who could be counted on, and those pairings helped tilt the ice in a good way. Here is 2024-25:
PlayerMins-GameGA-60Goal Pct
18:47
2.35
53
18:35
2.56
52
18:01
2.66
51
17:59
2.77
44
16:35
1.93
62
13:02
2.16
47
12:51
2.83
44
All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick
This is the second season under Coffey, and the one many remember for the strong performance by Nurse. Coffey’s biggest gift to the defence in those two seasons involved communicating an important fact: they had more time than was being used to make a strong pass. During these seasons, more than one defender talked about Coffey’s focus on making crisp passes tape-to-tape. It seemed to relax the entire team. In 2024-25, Nurse used that extra time to establish a career high in first-assists per 60 (0.50) at five-on-five. Here is the 2025-26 season so far, all games without Coffey on the bench.
PlayerMins-GameGA-60Goal Pct
18:36
2.72
44
17:50
2.96
53
17:44
2.98
53
17:16
3.23
42
15:54
3.04
38
14:19
1.82
54
14:03
2.53
39
All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick
The GA numbers for Nurse, Bouchard and Ekholm — who are the heart of the order — have all climbed since Coffey left. Nurse is playing big minutes, and his GA-60 is less than Ekholm’s and Bouchard’s. However, the GF-60 when he is on the ice is poorer, so the goal share for the second pairing is lower.
Part of that is the big minutes played by the top pairing with the McDavid line, but Coffey should be able to help Nurse play defence less often. Nurse played a stronger overall game under Coffey and had success with multiple defensive partners. Jake Walman is the likely partner with Nurse for the second pair, but it’s possible Coffey shuffles the top pairings and runs Nurse with Bouchard.
Penalty kill
The Oilers are allowing 8.71 GA-60 when short-handed this season. That compares to 7.55 GA-60 in 2023-24 and 7.94 GA-60 in 2024-25, both of those seasons under Coffey.
The big difference in PK deployment since Coffey left is the fading of Nurse’s minutes. In the last three seasons, including this one, Nurse has been on the ice for an average of 10.6 GA-60. The only defender who has played as many PK minutes in that time is Ekholm, whose unit has allowed 7.59 GA-60. Coffey played Nurse heavily in the game state; it will be interesting to see if Nurse’s minutes remain low compared to his own past.
Versus elites
Coffey sliced Nurse’s time versus elites in 2023-24, the first season the two men worked together. Puck IQ tells us Nurse played 42 percent of his five-on-five minutes in 2021-22 versus elite competition, and 35 percent the following year. Coffey reduced the toughest minutes to 30 percent (2023-24) and then 25 percent (2024-25). That number is at 31 percent this season. Will Coffey fade Nurse against the league’s best?
Bottom line
The top pairing of Bouchard and Ekholm is humming along at a 52 percent goal share at five-on-five. The makeshift third pairing of Spencer Stastney and Ty Emberson owns a 60 percent goal share in limited minutes. Coffey’s main chore over the rest of the regular season and through the playoffs is the Nurse-Walman pairing. The duo is at 48 percent so far in 2025-26, but was effective last season under Coffey. In 106 minutes, the pairing was 8-2 goals and 61 percent expected goals.
For those who remember Coffey as an NHL star, the idea that he could solve defensive issues would seem to be the ultimate long shot. Oilers fans saw Coffey do it, with most of the men who still populate the Oilers’ defence, for two seasons in a row.
The questions surrounding Coffey’s exit last summer and his return now may never be answered. Oilers fans want results, and Coffey was part of the success enjoyed during the previous two seasons. Is this a brilliant tweak, or the ultimate Hail Mary? We wait.