It sounds like change is coming in the coaching staff of the Edmonton Oilers.
I don’t necessarily expect anybody to get fired, and certainly not head coach Kris Knoblauch, who has taken the team to two straight Stanley Cup Finals. But if you read the tea leaves — as mainly presented by the ultimate Oilers media insider Bob Stauffer on his show today — I’m betting that the Oilers will finally bring back Paul Coffey to coach the defence and run the defence during games.
I had pushed hard for this move to be made in a Cult of Hockey post on November 7, when it was clear the Oil’s defence group had crashed after Coffey’s departure last spring. More recently my Edmonton Journal colleague Jim Matheson has suggested on several occasions that Coffey should be rehired.
There had been a remarkable improvement in the play of almost every Oilers d-man after Coffey took over from former d-man coach David Manson in November 2023, and there had been a marked collapse of the two-way play of the d-men without Coffey earlier this fall.
With Coffey in charge of the defence, the d-men helped create Grade A shots at a higher rate and they leaked fewer Grade A shots against. Evan Bouchard, Brett Kulak, Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse were all better under Coffey than they were under Manson before.
Since I wrote that post, the two-way play of Bouchard, Ekholm and Nurse has improved immensely under Stuart. At the same time, however, three defencemen have crashed when it comes to keeping the puck out of the Edmonton net. Jake Walman, Spencer Stastney and Alec Regula have all leaked Grade A shots, 5-alarm shots and goals against.
I recently wrote that to fix this mess Edmonton needs to bring in at least one solid veteran d-man at the deadline as their top trade priority. But maybe a smarter option would be now to bring back Paul Coffey. It wouldn’t cost cap space and draft picks to do that. And it might ultimately be the best decision to bring about major positive change for players like Stastney, Walman and Regula.
And, again, it sounds to me like such a change is coming soon.
On Oilers Now, Stauffer did not say so in so many words, and it could be I am misinterpreting what he’s saying here. But it sounds to me like team insiders believe the team was better with more experience on the bench and a more veteran and forceful presence running the defence.
Stauffer pointed out the Oilers had allowed 34 goals in the team’s last seven games.
“These are frustrating times,” he said. “Exasperating. And there outright needs to be improvement. And everybody from top to bottom needs to be a part of this. As stated by Leon Draisaitl, who said last night everybody needs to be better.”
Stauffer pointed out the Oilers have just 28 wins and 30 losses, even as they have the NHL’s top scorer Connor McDavid and top scoring d-man in Bouchard. “They haven’t even won more than half their games this year.”
He said one issue is that the coaches aren’t giving bottom-line players enough ice time. “Frankly they have got to play other players more often. I don’t think think there’s any question about that. Personally I think they got to find a way to re-engage Trent Frederic…. The Oilers have to find a way to make this work (with Frederic). The coach has to find a way tomake this work.”
Then Stauffer mentioned the team having four bench coaches last year, including two-time former NHL head coach Glen Gulutzan and the vastly-experienced Coffey.
“Coff has a unique personality and it’s also a personality that would be unique to this staff,” Stauffer said.
Now the bench staff is younger and less experienced, Stauffer said, then he referenced Leon Draisaitl’s critique of the team where he said everyone must improve, from the coaches to the players.
“Do I have a problem about what Leon Draisailt said. No, I liked what Leon Draisatil said and he wasn’t mealy mouthed in his approach. He’s frustrated because he cares, because he’s damn good and he’s sitting there taking the crap after the Oilers lose a third straight game. I got no problems with what he said. Good. Because sometimes when players of his ilk make those comments it provides clarity for everybody else out there. So on that note, what I’m saying is that opportunity knocks. Seize the day. I think you know what I mean.”
In fact, I wasn’t certain what Stauffer meant, as he can speak in riddles, given that he works for the team, knows a lot of stuff he can never talk about and can only hint at things.
But a moment later, he provided some clarity.
He suggested this Olympic break will be a time for reflection for the Oilers with some tweaks coming.
When one fan suggested that Oilers GM Stan Bowman would fire Knoblauch to cover up for Bowman’s own mistakes, Stauffer shot down that notion. “I’m going to tell you that’s not going to be the case. At least not over the course of the next few weeks. I mean, come on!”
But then Stauffer returned to his main hint of the day, that the Oilers had moved from four to three coaches last year and now had less experienced coaches, but big problems that need fixing on the penalty kill and on defence.
“They’re down to three coaches on the bench right now and Mark Stuart is doing two jobs, the penalty kill and the D. And those numbers aren’t pretty right now. The Oilers might be first in the league on the power play but the problem is they’ve dropped to 27th in the league on the penalty kill and they may be fourth in the league in goals for but they’re 26th in the league in goals against. It’s pretty obvious what needs to be shored up here.”
It’s also pretty obvious who can be called in to help shore up things.
Welcome back Paul Coffey.
At the Cult of Hockey
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