Oilers Need to Replace Kris Knoblauch With Misha Donskov

Knoblauch chose his new assistants coming into the 2025-26 season, after Paul Coffey stepped down and Glen Gulutzan was hired by the Dallas Stars as their new head coach, and while Paul McFarland has done well with the Oilers’ power play, it seems as though Knoblauch has been a complete failure.

Let’s start with the new penalty kill system. They moved away from a “Wedge +1” system that worked well, and seem to be struggling to defend the backdoor and front of the net. Some of the issues can be chalked up to personnel issues, but changing the system has had a negative effect.

The other big issue, which most Oilers fans have had a big issue with, is Knoblauch overplaying Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Both of them average over 22 minutes of ice time per game, while other players don’t quite see the ice even close to as much. Vasily Podkolzin has been solid and only averages 15:20 per game, Matt Savoie only averages 13:50, and Jack Roslovic only averages 16:04.

Nobody is looking for Knoblauch to give out an exactly even amount of ice time to every single forward, especially if they don’t deserve it, but constantly going back to those two forwards when things get tough hasn’t been working for the Oilers this season. It also doesn’t help when players like Isaac Howard, Josh Samanski, and Quinn Hutson come up from the American Hockey League (AHL) in hopes of getting a fair shot, and barely see the ice outside of the first period.

Sometimes, the big guns will be going, and it makes sense to have them out for the end of the game if the Oilers need a goal and need to push. However, putting the lines in a blender after an unlucky period hasn’t worked previously, and it doesn’t seem like it will start working anytime soon.

At even strength, having McDavid and Draisaitl together doesn’t make sense, since it hinders the remainder of the lineup and hurts the depth in terms of what line combinations they can deploy for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, Knoblauch seems to keep trying the same things over and over again, and it just isn’t working.

Lastly, the pairing of Darnell Nurse and Jake Walman doesn’t work. They are not a good pairing, and they need to be split up. Their results have been horrendous, and while Walman had a tough showing in the previous few games, being played on the wrong side hasn’t helped him whatsoever. The Oilers have the personnel to have Walman playing on his strong side, but they seem to prefer keeping Nurse and Walman together.

Misha Donskov Could Be Perfect Replacement

If, and inevitably when, the Oilers decide to make a coaching change, former Dallas Stars assistant coach Misha Donskov could be a perfect replacement. He is going to serve as an assistant for Team Canada at the upcoming Olympics and has been praised for his attention to detail in the past. It could be tough to implement new systems this late in the season, which is why I wouldn’t expect a major change like this until the offseason, but Donskov makes a lot of sense to hire.

In an article posted by the NHL, detailing Donskov’s important role with the Stars and Team Canada, some light was shed on how effective Donskov is as a coach.

Pete DeBoer, the former head coach of the Stars and also an assistant for Team Canada at the upcoming Olympics, had extremely high praise for Donskov, stating, “he just does so many things to help you win.” He continued: “He’s great at getting your team ready, he’s great at details, he just does a lot of things to help you win.”

Fans often worry about recycling old head coaches who haven’t worked out in the past, but maybe a fresh voice like Donskov, who has never been a head coach at the NHL level, could be exactly what the Oilers need as they try to push for their first championship since 1990.

His attention to detail, his track record as an assistant coach, and his willingness to do everything in his power as a coach to win make him an attractive hire.

Time will tell if the Oilers choose to make a coaching change, but if they do, it wouldn’t surprise me if Donskov is among a short list of candidates.

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