Hmmm, I wonder who Connor McDavid will hire as the next head coach of the Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n
OK, it might not be that cut and dry, but you can\u2019t tell me the superstar captain of the team won\u2019t have a significant vote on a replacement for Kris Knoblauch, who was unceremoniously dismissed following a first-round ousting by the Anaheim Ducks on the heels of guiding the Oilers to back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n
This is, after all, the same organization that tailormade itself from the top down to suit McDavid\u2019s image leading up to the contract extension he signed at the beginning of the season, not-so secretively surrounding him with familiar faces from his past.<\/p>\n
In a span of three-and-a-half months in 2023, his former agent, Jeff Jackson, was named CEO of hockey operations. Knoblauch, his former junior head coach, was brought in behind the bench. And former Eerie Otters linemate Connor Brown was added to the roster.<\/p>\n
Talk about bending over backward to try and make your star player happy.<\/p>\n
Only, McDavid showed he\u2019s been far from happy this season. Like that time when he lauded the opposing coach following a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.<\/p>\n
\u201dThey have a great system, they\u2019re perfectly coached. They all know what they\u2019re doing all over the ice. It\u2019s impressive. They\u2019re a great team,\u201d McDavid said of Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper on the heels of a 5-2 loss to them on March 21. \u201cThey\u2019re extremely well-coached, they\u2019re extremely well-organized. They\u2019re very rehearsed in everything they do. It\u2019s very impressive. And when you do break them down, they have a heck of a goalie to backstop them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, everything the Oilers are not. And even though both teams went on to suffer a first-round playoff exit, Cooper is still the bench boss in Tampa while Knoblauch joins the unemployment line, no longer the cure to all the Oilers\u2019 ills.<\/p>\n
McDavid\u2019s not the only Oilers superstar to criticize the team\u2019s coaching this season, either.<\/p>\n
Back before the Olympic break in February, Leon Draisaitl followed up a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames by strafing the entire team for underperforming, including the coaching staff and management.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt starts with the coaches. Everybody. You\u2019re never going to win if you have four or five guys going, and it starts at the top,\u201d Draisaitl said.<\/p>\n
Their words carry weight, and can only have contributed to the dismissal of Knoblauch and assistant coach Mark Stuart. Especially after both players took to the podium at year\u2019s end to say the club had taken a big step backward this season.<\/p>\n
The question now is, just how much of a voice will McDavid and Draisaitl have in choosing their sixth different head coach since they began playing together here in 2015-16?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll certainly talk to them, but they don\u2019t want to be choosing coaches, that\u2019s not their role,\u201d said Edmonton general manager Stan Bowman. \u201cThey\u2019re in a different category than just a regular player, they\u2019re elite players that know this team, know their game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ll have conversations with them, but they\u2019re not choosing coaches. They don\u2019t want the pressure of choosing a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean they are without a say when it comes to vetoing any potential replacement candidates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not going to be picking a coach, but we\u2019ll have conversations as we go through it,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to be in on the interviews or anything like that, it\u2019s more just general things about their game and our team in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we\u2019ll talk to them, but they\u2019re not going to be in the decision making.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, here we are. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Oilers are still without a Stanley Cup since 1990, and are looking for a new coach to come in and turn things around, just like Knoblauch did when they started out the 2023-24 season a disappointing 3-9-1 under his predecessor, Jay Woodcroft (and assistant coach Dave Manson).<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved playing for \u2018Woody\u2019, loved playing for \u2018Mans\u2019, two guys that I think are unbelievable coaches and I really think they\u2019ll be in the league very, very soon. Two great coaches,\u201d McDavid said at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never lost the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the record, McDavid said he wasn\u2019t even consulted when the last coach was fired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke up to a text like probably a lot of you guys did as well,\u201d McDavid told reporters then. \u201cI know the narrative out there, obviously, but it couldn\u2019t be further from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
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