{"id":668575,"date":"2026-05-14T09:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668575\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T09:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:05:26","slug":"oilers-look-unprofessional-in-handling-of-kris-knoblauch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668575\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers look unprofessional in handling of Kris Knoblauch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Edmonton Oilers\u2019<\/a> coaching discussion, search, or whatever you call it, it looks like a \u201cclustereff.\u201dThis morning, Frank Seravalli reported that the Edmonton Oilers sought permission<\/a> to interview Bruce Cassidy, but the Vegas Golden Knights have withheld permission, which is within their rights as they are paying Cassidy. Eventually, Vegas will grant permission, but they have simply delayed it. I get why they would, considering the Oilers are one of their main division rivals.<\/p>\n

However, the question I have is why are the Oilers asking for permission to interview Cassidy when they have a head coach under contract? Kris Knoblauch is still the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, at least in title, but it is clear the Edmonton Oilers are now looking at other options. If it were mid-season and they were going to make a change, then I would understand speaking to the replacement before you fire the head coach, but it is the off-season. This isn\u2019t how you go about it.<\/p>\n

I wrote last week<\/a> that it would be a mistake to repeat the same pattern as the past, which is blaming the head coach and goaltenders while excusing the lack of on-ice commitment to defending and managing the puck. Knoblauch had a down year last season, but so did many players on the team. The adage \u201cyou can\u2019t fire the entire team, so you fire the coach\u201d is lazy. Once again, the organization will blame the head coach and goalies for the failures of their team.<\/p>\n

How many of you have a friend, or maybe it is you, who jumps from relationship to relationship? They outline what was wrong or lacking with their partner, without ever realizing the one constant in each of their relationships: themselves. The Oilers are that person. They keep changing coaches and goalies, and they believe they are the main cause of them not finding happiness (a Stanley Cup), but they refuse to see the deeper issue.<\/p>\n

So now Knoblauch is left twisting in the wind, waiting until the Oilers get permission to speak with Cassidy, or they hire another head coach. There is zero chance Knoblauch<\/a> can return as head coach now, because the players know he would have no power to enforce anything. If the organization feels a head coaching change is needed, that is fine. But go about it with professionalism and respect. Knoblauch has earned that. He was the head coach of a team with consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances. He never embarrassed the organization. He never threw others under the bus, yet the organization has opted to not only toss him from the bus, but to back over him repeatedly and embarrass him publicly.<\/p>\n

You can make tough decisions, but at least do it respectfully. Knoblauch didn\u2019t deserve to be embarrassed publicly.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s essentially being fired without sending out a press release. When it comes, and make no mistake, it is coming, it will be old news. The path is obvious. The Edmonton Oilers will have their sixth head coach in the Connor McDavid era, whether it is Bruce Cassidy or someone else. Maybe the results with a new coach will be different, but the truth is, until the players decide to commit to starting the season on time, building their game throughout the season, limiting glaring turnovers, defending better, and managing the puck better in the offensive and neutral zones, winning the Stanley Cup won\u2019t happen. If the players decide to inject the aforementioned decisions into their game, the new head coach might have more success. But if not, the organization will continue to have the same playoff disappointment.<\/p>\n

SNAPSHOTS\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Leon Draisaitl was honest about what the team lacked this past season. \u201cI think one lesson for us is that you need to build over the stretch of the regular season,\u201d said Draisaitl. \u201cCertain moments of games, certain moments of seasons how to handle those. I don\u2019t think we did a good job of that in the regular season. We all know the stats with the three games (winning streak), but there\u2019s many games where we ended up winning the game but it\u2019s not the right way of winning the game, and I think you learn those things as a group throughout the season. You know how to go on a six-game winning streak right or how to go on a three-game winning streak. How to win games 3-1 and I think we kind of lost track of how to do it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 It was more than a coaching issue, and the core group should know better. They know what it takes to win consistently, but they opted not to do it. At least not early in the season. It wasn\u2019t until they returned from the Olympic break that they committed to playing solid consistent hockey. Here are some splits on the season courtesy of Clear Sight Analytics.<\/p>\n

Expected Goals Against 5v5:
Pre-Olympics \u2013 29th
Post Olympics \u2013 4th<\/p>\n

Rush chance expected GA
Pre- 26th
Post- 4th<\/p>\n

D-Zone chances expected GA
Pre \u2013 24th.
Post \u2013 16th<\/p>\n

High Danger Chances For:
Pre \u2013 5th
Post \u2013 10th<\/p>\n

High Danger Chances Against:
Pre \u2013 30th
Post \u2013 2nd<\/p>\n

High Danger Chance Differential:
Pre \u2013 16th
Post \u2013 4th<\/p>\n

\u2014 Knoblauch made some small systemic tweaks during the Olympic break, but the players reduced their glaring giveaways and reduced the number of high danger chances against significantly. Would it have continued in the playoffs if the Oilers hadn\u2019t been ravaged by injuries to their four centres? We will never know.<\/p>\n

\u2014 I keep seeing many suggest the Oilers erred in trading Ryan McLeod for Matt Savoie, because McLeod was already an established third line centre. That is true, but how effective was he when it mattered most, in the playoffs? Well, not that good.<\/p>\n

Here are his five seasons in the playoffs in GF-GA at five-on-five:<\/p>\n

Year<\/p>\n

GP<\/p>\n

TOI<\/p>\n

GF-GA<\/p>\n

2021<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

36:54<\/p>\n

1-2<\/p>\n

2022<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

175:25<\/p>\n

4-6<\/p>\n

2023<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

140:49<\/p>\n

4-5<\/p>\n

2024<\/p>\n

24<\/p>\n

264:46<\/p>\n

4-12<\/p>\n

2026<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

101:28<\/p>\n

3-9<\/p>\n

In 65 playoff games and 819 minutes at five-on-five he has been outscored 34-16. He was part of an excellent PK with the Oilers in the 2024 playoffs and wasn\u2019t on the ice for one goal against, but his struggles at five-on-five have actually increased as he\u2019s gotten older. I don\u2019t see any justification that the Savoie acquisition wasn\u2019t a good one for the Oilers. You can dislike and critique fairly the decision not to match the Dylan Holloway<\/a> and Philip Broberg qualifying offers, but I wouldn\u2019t lump the McLeod trade in with those. Savoie wasn\u2019t an impact player in his first playoffs, but that was to be expected. I feel he will be stronger, more experienced and better prepared next season and beyond. His ceiling is higher than McLeod\u2019s.PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS<\/p>\n

The Toyota Tacoma is the ultimate power play. Its standard i-FORCE engine delivers more power than ever and a towing capacity of up to 6,400 lbs. It helps you take on challenging landscapes with confidence with its available Panoramic Multi-Terrain View Monitor that provides a live, underfloor view of the terrain you\u2019re tackling. It even makes loading and unloading gear effortless with its available Power Liftgate. Whether it\u2019s for early morning practice or weekend away games, the Tacoma is a teammate you can rely on. Visit your local Prairie Toyota dealer during Red Tag Days for limited-time offers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edmonton Oilers\u2019 coaching discussion, search, or whatever you call it, it looks like a \u201cclustereff.\u201dThis morning, Frank…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-668575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668575","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=668575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}