{"id":486877,"date":"2026-02-20T04:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/486877\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T04:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:52:08","slug":"oilers-coaching-staff-reportedly-unhappy-with-coffey-hiring-the-hockey-writers-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/486877\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers Coaching Staff Reportedly Unhappy with Coffey Hiring – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

We could have some drama behind the scenes with the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>. In a move that had been hinted at early in the Olympic break, it was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that Paul Coffey<\/a> will be returning to the bench<\/a> for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

Coffey will return back to his regular position of leading the Oilers defence corps. That part of the Oilers game has fallen off dramatically this season, after impressing under Coffey\u2019s guidance during both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.<\/p>\n

Related: Draisaitl Chewing Out Oilers Will Get Them Going<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have been in regular contact with Paul since last summer and I believe we will benefit both as a team and as a staff from his return at this time,\u201d head coach Kris Knoblauch said<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n

While Knoblauch said the right thing publicly, however, that may not truly be how he feels. There had been rumours throughout the offseason that he and Coffey didn\u2019t see eye-to-eye, and, based on a new report, it sounds as though he and the rest of the coaching staff aren\u2019t particularly thrilled with the Hall-of-Fame defenceman returning.<\/p>\n

Oilers Coaches Didn\u2019t Make This Decision<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear as to why exactly Knoblauch and Coffey didn\u2019t seem to get along, but there are enough members of the Oilers media who have mentioned their rift. One who did so recently was Jason Gregor of Sports 1440<\/a> when discussing the potential of Coffey rejoining the Oilers bench early into the Olympic break.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the head coach and Coffey didn\u2019t get along perfectly,\u201d Gregor said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean you hate someone, but you know, if you\u2019re not always on the same page, can you bring that guy back?\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, regardless of whether or not they are on the same page, the Oilers did choose to bring Coffey back. What makes things interesting, and perhaps somewhat troubling, is that it sounds like the decision came from individuals, or perhaps one individual, who is higher up the chain than the coaching staff.<\/p>\n

\"KrisJun 3, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is seen during media day in advance of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not [happy],\u201d Tom Gazzola said on Edmonton Sports Talk<\/a>. \u201cI found out today that it\u2019s not just the coaching staff that are not happy about this. I\u2019ll leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right away, it\u2019s easy to understand why some would be concerned over this<\/a>. While there are likely plenty more disagreements between coaching staff\u2019s than fans are aware, it\u2019s not often that an assistant coach who seemingly isn\u2019t wanted by the head coach gets added past the midway point of the season.<\/p>\n

The concern would be that this creates tension and perhaps a toxic environment in the Oilers locker room, which is obviously something this team does not need. Should the dislike between the two indeed be real, the hope is that both can be mature and work toward the same goal of winning a championship.<\/p>\n

Of course, the reasons for wanting Coffey are quite obvious. As mentioned, he did marvellous work with the Oilers over the past two seasons, and had a big role in them reaching back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. He also really helped bring out the best in Evan Bouchard, a player who the Oilers will need at his best if they hope to win it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a familiar face, which is nice for everyone,\u201d Bouchard told reporters<\/a> on Wednesday. \u201cWe know we\u2019ve got to step it up in the second half of the season, so a little shakeup may be a good thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time Will Tell on This Decision<\/p>\n

At first glance, this decision reeks of desperation for the Oilers, who have looked far from a Stanley Cup contender this season. If it does work out, great. That said, it\u2019s hard to envision an assistant coach turning things around in a positive direction with just 24 games remaining in the season.<\/p>\n

Related: Trusted Pundit Suggests Outrageous Howard for Ekman-Larsson Trade<\/a><\/p>\n

What it seemingly also suggests is that Knoblauch is very much on the hot seat. Firing him this late into the season is very unlikely, but if the Oilers do struggle and are eliminated early in the playoffs, it would not be surprising whatsoever to see the organization bring in a new head coach for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We could have some drama behind the scenes with the Edmonton Oilers. In a move that had been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,23987,36672,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-486877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-kris-knoblauch","11":"tag-paul-coffey","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}