November 20, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers fired Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson last Sunday, and they named Kris Knoblauch the new head coach and Paul Coffey the new assistant coach. Coffey’s title with the organization before taking on these new coaching duties was Special Advisor to the Owner & Chairman. It’s incredibly unique and odd that a person with Coffey’s relationship to the owner would be thrust into action as an assistant coach mid-season, especially since Coffey admitted that he wasn’t interested in coaching initially. It’s a decision that reeks of ownership involvement. Coffey is a symbol of the lack of trust that Oilers owner Daryl Katz has in his hockey operations staff.

Related: Oilers Fire Woodcroft and Manson & Name Knoblauch and Coffey as replacements

Katz has developed a habit of running to Coffey when things are going wrong with the Oilers. Coffey was brought in as a “skills coach” in January 2018 after a stretch where the team went 3-6-1. According to the Oilers website, Coffey was brought back into the fold as a special advisor in 2022, although we don’t know exactly when he was brought back. 

Elliotte Friedman included a thought about Coffey and the Oilers in his 32 Thoughts article on March 9, 2022:

“5. Paul Coffey remained around the Oilers for Monday’s Battle of Alberta. Loves and knows his hockey. Again, we’re told nothing formal, but I’m curious to see where this goes.”

Nothing formal had been announced by the team by March 9, 2022 even after he had been seen travelling with the team in the previous week’s road trip. In fact, I was unable to find any formal announcement about Coffey being hired for this particular role. What this information tells us is that Coffey was at least around the team in the early part of 2022. Dave Tippett was fired and replaced by Jay Woodcroft on February 10, 2022. The Oilers went 2-11-2 from December 3, 2021 to January 20, 2022. Once again, the team struggled and Coffey came to the rescue.

This is a quote from a piece by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic published on January 17, 2023 as part of The Athletic’s NHL99 series:

“[Coffey] is also back in hockey, with a talked-about but shrouded-in-mystery new role with the Oilers. When he fielded my call, he was in between a 12-day trip to Normandy and Paris with a group of friends, lunch back in Toronto with Darryl Sittler and Tiger Williams, and a flight to meet the Oilers in New York for their three-game trip against the Devils, Islanders and Rangers.

‘Everybody wants to know,’ he said between chuckles before caving. ‘I work directly with ownership. I work directly with Daryl (Katz). Wasn’t looking for a job but I’m happy to work. I absolutely love it. (It’s) a little bit bigger, senior position (I took) last year. It gets me back in the game and I find that as much as the game has changed, it’s still the same. It’s exciting for me. I get a high-level view of arguably one of the greatest players of all time (Connor McDavid). The coaches are awesome — very approachable on all fronts. And Kenny Holland’s an easy guy to work with.’”

That New York road trip where Coffey met up with the Oilers was a part of that 2-11-2 stretch, and it began on December 31, 2021. It’s odd that Coffey just randomly met up with the team in New York while the team was in the midst of a losing streak. The flight from Toronto to New York is short, so it’s not inconceivable that it was a preplanned meeting; but the timing of it makes me think that if he wasn’t working with the team already, he was going to be soon.

Coffey said that he took the position with the Oilers “last year” on that call with Wheeler that seemingly took place just prior to that New York road trip, which would suggest that he took the position with the Oilers in 2020. Coffey’s last job in hockey was as an assistant coach on Canada’s 2019 Spengler Cup team, so he was not tied up in other hockey related affairs in 2020.

In March of 2020, the NHL season was cancelled due to COVID, and the playoffs were conducted in bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton, with the Stanley Cup being awarded in Edmonton. The Oilers were in second place in the Pacific Division when the season was cancelled, and they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the play-in round of those playoffs. The Blackhawks finished twelfth in the Western Conference that season. It was a frustrating and disappointing loss to say the least.

Local media and reporters weren’t allowed in the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto during the 2020 playoffs. Press conferences were conducted on video calls, and it continued that way through the 2020-21 season. It would’ve been easy for the Oilers to hide Coffey during that time. The media caught wind of Coffey’s presence in the organization in 2022, and that’s when the Oilers claim that Coffey started with the organization.

I could be completely off base here. I’m not reporting anything. I have no connection to the organization, and I’m speculating completely based on the evidence that I’ve read and placed before you here.

Related: Deep Dive: Oilers Coaching Change Press Conference

Regardless of when Coffey actually rejoined the organization, it was at a time when the team was struggling. The circumstances surrounding Coffey becoming an assistant coach are a little bit different since he was already in the organization, but the pattern remains the same. The team struggles, and Coffey gets placed closer to the team.

In part two of this piece, I’ll focus on how events unfolded while Coffey was a skills coach with the Oilers and the parallels between that and the current situation. I’ll also focus on how Coffey symbolizes the lack of trust Katz has in his people.