Oilers Commit Long-Term to HC

Stanley Cup Confidence

The extension for Knoblauch is a comittment to their Stanley Cup ambitions and the confidence they have in this head coach to lead them there. Knoblauch has been behind the bench since the early stages of the 2023-2024 campaign. Taking over after 13 games, he led the Oilers to a 46-18-5 record the rest of the season and to the Stanley Cup Finals. This past season, he coached the group back to the Finals, only to come up short for a second straight year to the Florida Panthers.

Still, then team has been with one or two wins of the ultimate prize in back-to-back seasons. The disappointment from not finishing the job is fair, but it doesn’t negate how effective a coach Knoblauch has been since his hiring in Edmonton. He's 94-47-10 in 151 regular season games and 28-18 in the postseason.

Fortune Revealed?

What makes this, and every other deal the Oilers sign so curious is that it’s all happening while McDavid is not extended. Now, there’s two ways to interpret this. One, the team is making sure that they have all of their ducks in a row before McDavid’s deal is finalized. They want to have the coach he wants, the players he wants on the roster and the organization in the best shape possible to convince him to sign for the maximum length of time.

The other is that the Oilers are hedging their bets. While McDavid’s contractual future is uncertain, they’ve extended middle-six forwards like Trent Frederic and Vasily Podkolzin to long-term deals and signed top defender Evan Bouchard to a massive new deal. Now, they have Knoblauch locked up as well. There's lots for a team to take care of, but for the top priority being so apparent, it's becoming strange how many other players and coaches are being taken care of before McDavid.

Maybe it’s all part of the plan for the Oilers and their patience will pay off. Maybe not, though. The Oilers have their head coach locked up, and as the details come out, that’s one less thing on the plate of the Oilers’ management.