Kris Knoblauch Fired in Edmonton Oilers Head Coach Search
The edmonton oilers head coach search opened Thursday after the team fired Kris Knoblauch and assistant Mark Stuart, ending Knoblauch’s three-season run in Edmonton. Two of those seasons reached the Stanley Cup Final, but the front office moved on and began looking for a replacement.
Bowman Opens Search
Stan Bowman said the search has already started and that Edmonton will not drag it out. He said the club is not looking to make the next hire in a rush, but also does not intend to stretch the process beyond what it needs.
“I don’t have a timeline on it, we’re going to go through a process,” Bowman said. “We’re not looking to drag this out and it will take as long as it takes.” He added, “We’re not going to rush into anything in the next couple of days here, but I think we are going to let that play out.”
McDavid and Draisaitl Input
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will have a voice in the process, but not the final decision. Bowman said, “We’ll certainly talk to them, but they don’t want to be choosing coaches, that’s not their role,” and added, “They’re in a different category than just a regular player, they’re elite players that know this team, know their game. I think we’ll have conversations with them, but they’re not choosing coaches.”
He also said, “They don’t want the pressure of choosing a coach.” That keeps the decision with management, while still putting Edmonton’s two most important players in the room before the hire is made.
McDavid Future, Draisaitl Load
The next coach will be the sixth for McDavid since he entered the League in 2015-16 and the eighth for Draisaitl since 2014-15. McDavid is entering the first year of a two-year contract worth $12.5 million per season, and he could become an unrestricted free agent after the 2027-28 season if Edmonton does not show enough progress.
Draisaitl is entering the second year of an eight-year, $112-million contract signed on Sept. 3, 2024. He posted 97 points in 65 games last season, with 35 goals and 62 assists, and the next coach will inherit a roster built around that production as well as McDavid’s timeline.
Knoblauch signed a three-year contract on Oct. 3, 2025, that was set to begin the upcoming season. Instead, Edmonton changed direction Thursday and put the coach search on a short clock, with Bowman saying the process could take a week, 10 days, or two weeks.
