December 18, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

It would’ve been really nice if the Edmonton Oilers had beaten the Florida Panthers on Monday night. I say that not only because it would’ve been satisfying for them to take down the team that beat them in the Stanley Cup Final this past spring, but also because Monday was Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch’s 100th NHL game as an NHL head coach.

Knoblauch’s first 100 games with the Oilers has been nothing short of fantastic. His 64-29-7 record and .640 winning percentage put him in a tie for the fifth best record for an NHL coach in the first 100 games of their head coaching career. A win on Monday would’ve tied Knoblauch with former Oilers head coach Todd McLellan for fourth on that list.

Knoblauch is one of the ten coaches with one of the top 100 best records in their first 100 games as NHL head coaches to appear in the Stanley Cup Final within those first 100 games in the expansion era. Getting to the Stanley Cup Final as a rookie NHL head coach last season was a tremendous accomplishment for Knoblauch. Out of those 100 coaches, only Jean Perron (1986 – MTL), Randy Carlysle (2007 – ANA), and Dan Bylsma (2009 – PIT) won the Stanley Cup within the first 100 games of their NHL coaching careers.

Five of those top 100 coaches went on to appear in the next possible Stanley Cup Final after coaching their 100th game. Of those, only Claude Ruel (1969 – MTL) won in that Stanley Cup Final appearance.

You could argue that Knoblauch’s success is largely due to the fact that he walked onto the bench of a team with the two best players on the planet. The Oilers were in “win now” mode, and Knoblauch was in the right place at the right time. Jay Woodcroft, the man that Knoblauch replaced behind the Oilers bench, has the twentieth best record within the first 100 games as an NHL coach (59-30–11, .590 winning percentage). Had the Oilers started better last season, Woodcroft might be in the top five on this list.

That’s not the case though. Woodcroft made some poor tactical decisions in training camp last season, and he failed to hold players accountable, which went against management’s wishes. That combined with the fact that everything that could’ve went wrong for the Oilers in the first thirteen games of last season went wrong for them, and you get the resulting outcome of Woodcroft being fired.

Knoblauch deserves praise for what he has done in his first 100 NHL games. He made two tactical changes that helped the team get out of their early season funk. 

Related: Changes Under Knoblauch

Woodcroft had installed a 1-1-3 neutral zone system that was allowing teams to pass through the Oilers neutral zone with speed easily, like electrons through a wire. Knoblauch went back to the familiar 1-2-2 system with one forechecking forward and four players forming a square, ready to impede the opposition in the neutral zone.

Woodcroft implemented a zone defence system after getting stymied by the zone defence of the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2022 playoffs. While that system wasn’t necessarily the reason that the Oilers started so slowly, it definitely had its flaws. One player was being asked to aggressively pursue the puck carrier. Confusion came when the puck moved and a new player had to begin pressuring the puck carrier.

Knoblauch abandoned that style of zone defence and implemented one that shrunk the amount of ice that the defenders needed to cover. Knoblauch’s zone defence system placed a greater emphasis on protecting the slot area rather than aggressively trying to create turnovers along the wall.

Knoblauch has shown a penchant for being able to make the right adjustments at the right times. The greatest example of that was when he put Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid, and Zach Hyman on a line together during a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on November 22, 2023. That was the game before they played the Washington Capitals, which is known as the game that turned the Oilers’ season around.

The lineup adjustments didn’t stop in the regular season. Knoblauch made a lot of moves that paid dividends in the playoffs, such as putting Dylan Holloway on Leon Draisaitl’s line. He also healthy scratched many players that went on to contribute meaningfully upon returning to the lineup.

Related: Knoblauch’s playoff moves continue to pay dividends

Knoblauch also deserves credit for letting his assistant coaches do their thing. He gave Mark Stuart the reigns of the penalty kill, and it underwent a dramatic turnaround shortly after the coaching change was made. It was also a huge reason why the Oilers went to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

Paul Coffey was brought on to impart his wisdom on the defence. Coffey has been encouraging Oilers defencemen to make plays with the puck rather than making panic plays. Knoblauch has been fully supportive of Coffey and his approach.

I don’t care about the quality of the lineup that Knoblauch inherited. The fact is that there are tactical decisions that need to be made by any coach. Any system can win if it’s executed well enough, but the chosen system needs to fit the players that are executing it on a nightly basis. It also takes a keen eye and great instincts to make the successful in-game adjustments that Knoblauch has made time and time again.

Knoblauch deserves a ton of credit for the success of the Oilers since he was hired. He’s a great coach that is certain to have a long and successful NHL career. Congratulations on coaching 100 NHL games, Kris!