Get to Know the Edmonton Oilers’ 3 New Coaches

On top of adding three new coaches, they announced Paul Coffey was moving from the bench to an advisory role, and Mark Stuart would take over the role of running the defenders, while still overseeing the penalty kill. Head coach Kris Knoblauch will be staying behind the bench, and video coach Noah Segall received a contract extension.

With three new coaches joining the organization, let’s take a look at who they are and what they’ll do.

Peter Aubry – Goaltending Coach

This one is the most exciting one for fans, as the majority of them wanted the Oilers to move on from Dustin Schwartz, who has now been relieved of his duties. They have brought in Peter Aubry, who has experience at the NHL level with the Chicago Blackhawks, but most recently spent time in the NCAA with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he was listed as an associate coach.

Aubry is described by analysts as having an inclusive approach to coaching goaltenders and is an analytically-minded coach. He has worked with Corey Crawford, Kevin Lankinen, Anton Khudobin, and more. There is speculation that the Oilers could expand into a goaltending department, but if they do, Aubry will be the head of the department.

Aubry has some professional playing experience under his belt, having experience in the ECHL, American Hockey League (AHL), Ligue Magnus in France, the EIHL, and Germany2.

Paul McFarland – Power Play Coach

After Glen Gulutzan departed the Oilers to take a job with the Dallas Stars as their new head coach, the team was left in need of a new power-play coach, and Paul McFarland is their guy. He spent last season as the head coach of the Calgary Hitmen in the Western Hockey League (WHL), and has prior experience running the man advantage at the NHL level.

He was with the Seattle Kraken between 2021 and 2024 before leaving for the WHL, and spent time with both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers before that. He also has some playing experience under his belt, playing parts of four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Windsor Spitfires and Kitchener Rangers between 2002 and 2006. He also played four seasons with Acadia University in the CIS (Now USports), and was the captain for three seasons.

Conor Allen – Skills Coach

Conor Allen is the new skills coach and is coming off a stint with the U.S. National U17 Team as an assistant coach last season. He spent three seasons at UMass in the NCAA before jumping into a short professional career. He played seven games in the NHL, 284 games in the AHL, three games in the German DEL, 102 games in Czechia, and 33 games in Czechia2.

He won the Calder Cup in the 2016-17 season and was on the NCAA Hockey East All-Academic Team in the 2010-11 campaign.

Analysts have described him as a solid coach who knows a lot about the little details of the game and should be able to provide some strong analysis for the Oilers.

All three coaches have received mixed feedback on social media, but the Oilers seem confident in their choices as they aim to win their first Stanley Cup since 1990.

Final Thoughts

I love all three hirings. Aubry provides a fresh voice for the goaltenders who need to find a way to become more consistent, and it seems as though he has the skillset to help guide them toward that. McFarland’s experience at every level should be helpful, and considering the Oilers have been trying to find a way to make both man-advantage units become more dangerous, rather than just one, a fresh voice could help do that.

Allen comes in with little experience at the coaching level; however, his previous playing experience should be helpful. He doesn’t have the resume to get Oilers fans talking about him, but his attention to detail could be exactly what the team needs to get over the hump in the postseason.

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