November 12, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

Edmonton Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson, GM Ken Holland, new head coach Kris Knoblauch, and new assistant coach Paul Coffey addressed the media at Rogers Place this afternoon. The Oilers announced the decision to let Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson go along with the new coaching hires on Sunday morning.

Holland noted that a big part of the decision to let Woodcroft was that time is of the essence in a “win now” season. Holland said that he was waiting and waiting for the team to win a game and to turn it around on their own. Holland doesn’t think that Woodcroft lost the team, but he “couldn’t wait around another ten games,  fifteen games to find out”. Ultimately, the start that the Oilers have had is unacceptable, and a change had to be made. The coach was the casualty this time, as is typically the case.

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

Jackson said that “we have a team that we believe that should compete for the Stanley Cup. I’m a long-term strategy person, but I’m also here to try to win this year.” 

Holland said that “we’re in a business where you’ve got to win games. Over the last… early on, you figure you’re going to turn it around. You’re into game three, game four, game five, and as our record continued to get worse, [Jackson] and I have had talking on a more than an everyday basis, probably two or three times a day, especially in the last week, trying to figure out solutions… really, after we lost the game against San Jose on Thursday night, [Jackson] and I started to talk really seriously about ‘should we consider making a coaching change?’ and obviously made a decision to make that decision.”

The decision was definitely made before Saturday night’s game. Coffey told his wife that he would be the assistant coach at 6:30 pm last night, an hour and a half before the game. Holland said that he met with Woodcroft and Manson on Sunday morning to deliver the news.

Jackson also noted that the decision was not made by either him or Holland, rather that the decision was made by the both of them together. “… one thing we agreed on was that we’ve been very inconsistent. We’ve played thirteen games, and I think we’ve probably played eight or nine really good periods in there. We’ve had stretches in games where we looked dominant, and then we’ve sort of fallen off. That sort of was the theme of our discussions is like our consistency is not where it needs to be, and we talked a lot the last two or three days. There was no ultimate decision maker. We talked about it, ‘what do you think?’, ‘here’s what I think’, and we came to the decision together.”

Jackson said that “…we didn’t consult with the players on this decision. Never spoke with [Connnor McDavid] or [Leon Draisaitl] or [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] or [Darnell Nurse] or any of the other leadership group. These guys are here to play hockey. They know that. That’s what they want to do. They don’t like being involved in these types of decisions, that’s my experience. So, the fact that [Knoblauch] was [McDavid’s] coach in Eerie in 2014-15, it only has something to do with this because I think [Knoblauch] is a very good coach. [McDavid] didn’t have anything to do with this decision, and neither did the other leadership group.”

For what it’s worth, Holland said “I have talked over this past week with some of the veterans on this team.” This is different from what Jackson said. According to the Athletic, McDavid asked Holland not to trade Warren Foegele this summer. Holland obliged. McDavid is the most prominent player in the league. He has a relationship with the team’s CEO and now the new head coach. Jackson can say what he wants, but many fans are going to choose to believe that McDavid has too much pull in team decisions. It will be viewed by many as pandering to McDavid in an effort to get him to stay in Edmonton beyind the expiration of his current contract.

Holland said that he talked to Woodcroft about accountability throughout the season. “Certainly, you see in some games, players get sat out for what, half a period or a period a to get their attention. [Woodcroft] and I did talk about that, so it’s not like we haven’t talked about that. Ultimately, he didn’t do it.” Holland acknowledged that Woodcroft wasn’t able to healthy scratch players due to decisions that he made with the salary cap. 

Knoblauch said that he wants his players to feel empowered to make plays, but he also understands the importance of accountability.

“That’s probably the most difficult thing with coaching is holding guys accountable because as a coach, you don’t want your players playing in fear. You don’t want them [thinking] ‘is this the shift that I make a mistake and I’m out of the lineup?’, ‘is it when I get benched?’, all that. You want your players feeling empowered that they can make a play and contribute to the team; but obviously accountability is very important.” 

Knoblauch went on to talk about ice time being the tool that coaches have to hold players accountable. He said that players will make mistakes and the coaching staff has to live with that; but if mistakes are lazy or consistent, then players need to be held accountable.

Jackson also mentioned accountability being something that he noticed on teams that Knoblauch has coached in the past. It’s clear that the lack of accountability from Woodcroft is a big part of why he was fired.

Ryan Rishaug asked Coffey about how his position as advisor to owner Daryl Katz would impact his role as assistant coach. “That’s all about respect, and the respect I have for this organization and [Katz] is second to none.” Coffey added that “I’m an assistant coach. I work for [Knoblauch]. I work for [Holland]. [Jackson] is higher up. [Katz] is the owner of the team, but my focus will be on the players.”

Coffey was apparently asked if he would have interest in coaching last week, and he said no because he was happy in his role as Special Advisor to the Owner & Chairman. “… I was not lobbying for this job. [Holland] and [Jackson] had talked quite a bit and [Jackson] said something to me the other day ‘would you ever think of coaching?’ and I said ‘no, I’m very happy with my position.’ I’m happy with the strategy and the conversations I have with [Katz] and [Holland] etcetera and the organization and it kind of came about yesterday afternoon… it was still to [Jackson] ‘no, but I’ll do anything to help.’”

Coffey has no formal NHL coaching experience, but he’s quite confident that he has the requisite knowledge and skills to handle the job. “Have I ever coached in the NHL? No. Do I understand the game? Yes. Do I understand players? Yes. Do I know how to make them better? Yes. Can I communicate with them? Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.”

Related: Oilers Cold Streaks

Holland talked about how Knoblauch was a finalist for the head coaching job with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, in 2015. Holland has followed Knoblauch’s career closely from afar since then. He talked about Knoblauch’s track record of success in other coaching roles since then, including a WHL and an OHL championship and a final four appearance in last year’s AHL playoffs. Holland called Knoblauch “one of the bright young coaches in the National Hockey League”.

Jackson talked about Knoblauch’s twelve year track record as a head coach. “He has a very good feel for the players. He knows how to take the star players and empower them; but more importantly, he gives everyone a role, and they know what their role is, and there’s accountability at the end of the day, and that’s the thing that I’ve watched over the years with [Knoblauch].”

Knoblauch talked about his connection to Edmonton. He played for the Edmonton Ice as a junior player, and he played for the University of Alberta Golden Bears for five years. He also said that he met his wife here in Edmonton. 

A key word that Knoblauch used a lot was “empower”. He talked about empowering his players to make plays and to play defence without sacrificing offence. 

“…if you’re going to have success in this league, you have to be good defensively and reduce your goals against… Throughout the years, I mean last year I think fifteen of the top seventeen teams made the playoffs, or top defensive teams on goals against made the playoffs, and the year before that it was sixteen of nineteen; so obviously there’s a very strong correlation that if you are a good defensive team, you’re going to have success winning games… in my time [in Eerie], we were always either first or second in goals against average, and I think I try to empower my players to commit to playing defence without having to sacrifice any offence.”

This is what Knoblauch had to say when asked about what he’s seen from McDavid this season: 

“What I see out of [McDavid] is what I see from a lot of the team. A team that’s trying very hard, very passionate, want to win, want to do what’s right, but ultimately right now are very frustrated… Right now, I want [McDavid] and everyone just to take a breath, relax, play hockey, and find some joy into it, and play the way they can because right now,  I just think there’s too much pressure on them, and they’re feeling it.” He later added that “your players have to feel good about themselves to perform.”

Knoblauch talked about having a fast pace of play and having the defence move the puck up to the forwards quickly. He also said that feels much more comfortable using a zone defence. He talked about how many NHL teams are having defencemen stay in their quadrant of the defensive zone and close to the net, and he talked about wanting to be more aggressive in the defensive zone because the chances of taking penalties and making mistakes that result in goals against go up the longer a team is in the Oilers defensive zone. 

I really didn’t think that the Oilers would go with a first time head coach, but Knoblauch makes a lot of sense here. Admittedly, Knoblauch wasn’t on my radar, but he should’ve been. The connections to Edmonton and to McDavid are hard to ignore. He seems like a player’s coach that’s willing to hold players accountable, which is the perfect mix.

Related: Potential Replacements for Woodcroft

Jackson said that this wasn’t his or Holland’s decision, rather it was a decision made by both of them. That says a lot about Holland’s future. Holland hired Dave Tippett and Woodcroft. He’s had two coaches, and the team is still struggling. Holland is in the last year of his contract, and his future is uncertain. I feel that this situation has all but sealed Holland’s fate that he won’t continue being the GM of the Oilers after this season. It also seems like his role will be limited for the rest of the season based on the joint decision that was made on Sunday.

For now, we wait and watch as the Oilers try to turn their season around with 68 games left. The playoffs are still a definite possibility. Time will tell whether or not Knoblauch can lead the team there.