Oilers fire head coach Knoblauch after three seasons

The Edmonton Oilers have relieved Kris Knoblauch of his head coaching duties after three seasons, according to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug.

After reaching the Stanley Cup Final in two straight years, the Oilers (41-30-11) were eliminated in the first round of the 2025-26 postseason in six games by the Anaheim Ducks.

According to Rishaug, Knoblauch was entering the first year of his new three-year deal that paid him just north of $7.5 million total.

The 47-year-old departs the organization with a 135-77-21 record in 233 regular-season games to go along with a 31-22 record in three playoff runs. He took over the reins in 2023-24 after Jay Woodcroft was fired 13 games into the season.

After the season, Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said he would evaluate everything, a designation that was also apparently applied to Knoblauch.

“I thought we were trending in the right direction,” Bowman said on May 2. ”You look at how we played the last few weeks of the regular season, it looked like we had bought in and were determined to play a good, defensive game. In the playoffs we got away from the way we played the last few weeks and played more like we did most of the season.”

Both Bowman and Knoblauch agreed that captain Connor McDavid was correct when he said the Oilers were an “average team” this season.

“That was an accurate portrayal of our season … we were not able to get any momentum during the season,” said Bowman.

Prior to his time in Edmonton, Knoblauch spent four seasons with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and two seasons as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers.

He also coached seven seasons in the Canadian Hockey League, spending five seasons with the Erie Otters and leading them to an Ontario Hockey League championship in 2017.

He also helped the Kootenay Ice (now Wenatchee Wild) for two seasons where he led them to a Western Hockey League title as a rookie head coach in 2011.