It’s almost part of the culture of Oil Country for us Edmonton Oilers fans to be looking to make a coaching change. Over the past 15 years, the coaching staff has been a primary beacon of criticism for the organization’s poor performance. Kris Knoblauch is the 10th Oilers head coach since 2010. Even though he has one full and two partial seasons to his name, he is already the second-most tenured coach the Oilers have had in that span, with 209 games coached.
This season has brought up increasing concerns and criticisms about Knoblauch’s system and style. Despite him being one of the most successful coaches in NHL history to start his coaching career, with a .627 points percentage and two Stanley Cup Final appearances to his name already, he is not immune to the Oilers fanbase putting together a case against him.
This season, we have seen Knoblauch struggle with creating lines, systems, and roles for his players. Ice time distribution is endlessly baffling, the line blender is forever persistent and always impeding the team’s ability to build chemistry, and anyone in the depth positions of the lineup is unable to find their groove or build a role for themselves as they do not get ice time or opportunities to contribute.
All of this is resulting in an on-ice performance by the team that, while they are in a playoff spot, has been consistently underwhelming. That has led to increased discussion about the long-term feasibility of Knoblauch as the head coach. To the point that local reporters were discussing the topic around the beginning of the Olympic break, suggesting that conversations were happening internally. Those led to the return of Paul Coffey to the coaching staff following the Olympic break.
In the wake of all of this, we wanted to gauge the temperature in Oil Country about Kris Knoblauch. We went to X this week to ask the fans how they are feeling about Knoblauch as the Oilers’ head coach.
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How are you feeling about Kris Knoblauch as the Edmonton Oilers’ head coach right now?
— The Oil Rig (@oilrigEDM) February 20, 2026
Knoblauch is the guy, case closed
Just 4.3% of voters give Knoblauch a full vote of confidence at this point, a far cry from the sentiment that was felt even just six months ago, before the beginning of the season, when he signed a three-year extension.
Knoblauch currently has the second-highest points percentage of any Oilers head coach, behind only Jay Woodcroft. He sits fifth amongst active NHL coaches in career points percentage, nearly tied with fourth-place Sheldon Keefe. And among coaches with 100 games coached in the NHL, he is 12th all-time in points percentage.
Knoblauch has inherited a championship-calibre team and gotten them to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row. And in doing so in his first two seasons as an NHL head coach, he became just the sixth head coach in NHL history to accomplish this.
Needless to say, Knoblauch has an incredible record while leading his team’s incredibly successful run at the top of the league. And with another playoff berth seemingly in the works, his resume is set to get more impressive. However, with a small vote of confidence from the fan base, we are starting to see the cracks form in the proverbial armour.
Knoblauch is good, no need to make a change
After such a lengthy run of poorly constructed teams and uninspiring coaches coming and going from the Edmonton Oilers’ bench, it is nice to finally have a run of a couple of coaches that are bucking that trend. The Oilers have a good thing going right now, despite some on-ice struggles this season, but there is no need to make a drastic or rash change now.
This sentiment finished a close third in this week’s poll with 13.7% of the vote share.
Nearly any other team in the league would be ecstatic to have a coach with a record like Knoblauch. And even though this season has faced its aforementioned struggles, nothing is ever totally smooth sailing. This team has faced adversity before and come through even stronger. With a three-year contract extension beginning next season, the Oilers should not yet be attempting another overhaul of the coaching staff.
Knoblauch has been added to the hot seat
The noise surrounding the coaching this season is obviously undeniable. Certain aspects of this team’s struggles are hard to place anywhere but on the coaching staff. The line blender, the lack of creating roles for depth players, the lack of opportunity for certain players and the baffling excess of opportunity for others, and the clear systems issues that make it difficult for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to thrive.
The downward trend in performance through Knoblauch’s tenure has firmly placed him on the hot seat, by far the most popular option in this week’s poll with 66.7% of the vote.
If the Oilers fall off even further late in the season or are eliminated early in the playoffs, the organization will have to have some serious, difficult conversations about Knoblauch’s future with the team. Hopefully, the coaching bump felt from the re-addition of Coffey to the staff will provide a defensive boost to the team. If not, we could be in for an interesting offseason.
Knoblauch should have been gone by now
Sneaking out a second-place finish in this week’s poll is the suggestion that the coaching change should have been made by now, with 15.4% of the vote. If the Oilers wanted to compete this season, the time has passed to make this change to have a meaningful impact on postseason success. With just 24 games remaining in the regular season, if Edmonton was going to make a coaching swap, it should have been done last year or at the very latest, the beginning of the Olympic break when the talks started.
The evidence is there that Knoblauch is not the guy who will get this team over the finish line, despite being oh-so-close for two consecutive seasons. Comments in the media from Connor McDavid following one of the Cup Final losses suggest a lack of adaptability in on-ice strategy, leading to trying the same thing over and over again, even if it doesn’t work. Leon Draisaitl acknowledges that everyone, from the coaching staff to the players, has to be better. That is not what you want to hear out of your best players.
What are your feelings on Kris Knoblauch as the Edmonton Oilers’ head coach? Drop a comment down below!
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