A lot more was going on with the Edmonton Oilers last season than we were led to believe. The team fired head coach Kris Knoblauch and assistant Mark Stuart on May 14, and it was GM Stan Bowman who announced the firing: “Following a thorough review of this past season, we believe these changes are needed,” said Bowman.
The Edmonton Oilers didn’t just tweak around the edges this offseason — they detonated the coaching staff. Firing Kris Knoblauch, fresh off a three‑year extension, and replacing him with Mike Babcock was easily the most polarizing move they’ve made in years.
We’ve heard it time and again this summer: the Edmonton Oilers were looking for a different type of coach when they brought in Mike Babcock. The word that has resurfaced in articles and interviews has been accountability; the team’s leadership felt they needed more of this from their coach to get over the finish line.
How many of the players to grace the cover of each EA NHL video game going back to 'NHL 2000?"
Kris Knoblauch is officially done in Edmonton (for now), and honestly, it feels like the Oilers didn’t waste any time once the 2025-26 season ended. He got fired on May 14, 2026, after that first-round playoff exit to the Anaheim Ducks.
The NHL has had an interesting new millennium. It was a league sans a salary cap when the 2000s started… and then the owners locked the players out for an entire season.
The Edmonton Oilers are pivoting into a new era with winger Vasily Podkolzin gearing up for a major role. The 25-year-old forward is coming off a breakout 2025-26 campaign where he skated in all 82 regular-season games, netting a career-high 19 goals and 37 points.
At some point, every NHL front office learns the hard way: hockey plans rarely go as cleanly as they look on paper. The Oilers felt this sting. They gave Kris Knoblauch the boot on May 14 after a messy early playoff exit, even with those recent Finals runs.
Kris Knoblauch was relieved of his duties as Edmonton Oilers coach on May 14, and the organization is three weeks and counting into a search for the next bench boss.
The Colorado Avalanche, definitive favorites to win the Stanley Cup at the beginning of the playoffs, have been shown the door. It is easily one of the most painful, disappointing losses in Avalanche playoff history and it has some wondering if it might be time to move on from head coach Jared Bednar.
The Edmonton Oilers may have fired head coach Kris Knoblauch after falling to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they’ve just decided that a number of others in their hockey operations are worthy of a promotion.
The Edmonton Oilers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Anaheim Ducks in what was a shocking upset, but now their focus has shifted to the offseason.
People will talk about the “Mount Rushmore” for a franchise, which is to say the four people, usually four players, that most define the franchise. Not always the four-best players, but the four that evoke the essence of the franchise.
It’s time to dig into this week’s Letters to the Editor. Want to join in the fun? Details about how to reach out are at the bottom of the article. It has occurred to me that the team and fans are overreacting to last season’s failure.
Kris Knoblauch’s in that weird limbo. The Oilers let him go before his shiny three‑year deal even kicked in, so he’s technically still on the payroll but not coaching.
The Edmonton Oilers decided to relieve both Kris Knoblauch and Mark Stuart of their duties as head coach and assistant coach, and while many fans believe Bruce Cassidy is their primary target to become their new bench boss, another name recently came out as someone they are interested in.
This could be an offseason of major changes for the Edmonton Oilers, and it already started with the dismissal of head coach Kris Knoblauch before his new extension had even kicked in.
The Edmonton Oilers entered the 2025-26 season with Stanley Cup expectations after reaching back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals under Kris Knoblauch. Instead, they spent most of the year looking inconsistent, disconnected, and far from the dominant contender many expected them to become.
With Kris Knoblauch’s time behind the bench of the Edmonton Oilers now over, the focus has fully shifted to who GM Stan Bowman and company are going to hire as his replacement.
As the dust settles on what has been nothing short of a chaotic week in Edmonton, word has started to trickle about what led to the demise of Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch.
There may be no position in the world with shakier job security than NHL head coach, as the Edmonton Oilers showed once again by firing Kris Knoblauch on Thursday.
The Edmonton Oilers have fired head coach Kris Knoblauch, reports Ryan Rishaug of TSN. A three-year contract extension signed by Knoblauch has yet to begin, meaning the coach is set to be paid by the Oilers through the 2028-29 season.
A massive change behind the bench in Northern Alberta. On Thursday, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported that the Edmonton Oilers have fired Kris Knoblauch as head coach.
The Edmonton Oilers appear ready to rip off the band-aid and make it official, removing Kris Knoblauch from his post as head coach. It comes amid an awkward time for the team, a day after word leaked out that the team had tried to get permission to speak with Bruce Cassidy, only to be stalled by the Vegas Golden Knights.
If you don’t win, it must be the coach’s fault. That seems to be the mantra from Edmonton Oilers management, and this isn’t just in reference to general manager (GM) Stan Bowman.
After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances, the Edmonton Oilers lost their first-round series to the Anaheim Ducks in six games this year, and much of the blame belongs to head coach Kris Knoblauch.
Edmonton Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey is speaking out about rumors that he doesn’t have the greatest relationship with head coach Kris Knoblauch.
It has been a tumultuous year for the Edmonton Oilers, who appear poised to back into a playoff spot thanks to a brutal down year for the entire Pacific Division, rather than because of their own strong performance.
The Edmonton Oilers had another disappointing home loss, losing 4-0 to the Florida Panthers. This was another game that the Oilers didn’t show up for. They were playing the team that defeated them in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, but this felt like a preseason game.
It appears the Edmonton Oilers will be without one of their forwards for at least a game.
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