Insiders Hint at Coveted Veteran Coach as Potential Fit for Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers have started to spiral heading into the Olympic break, and it all culminated with a loss in Calgary on Wednesday, which led Leon Draisaitl to voice his frustration on just about everything, including the team’s defense, special teams, goaltending, and coaching.

His comments certainly opened some eyes and have led to increased conversation around the league about the status of Kris Knoblauch. While a coaching change doesn’t appear imminent by any means, that hasn’t stopped chatter about a potential replacement should it come to fruition, with veteran coach Peter DeBoer already being mentioned as a fit.

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While dissecting Draisaitl’s postgame callout, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski and insider Jeff Marek discussed the idea of DeBoer taking over in Edmonton on Thursday’s episode of The Sheet.

Wyshynski said:

“By the way, when Leon Draisaitl said the coaches need to be better, how many texts did Pete DeBoer get? Did his phone just blow up? Is it still vibrating?”

Marek responded:

“You know what’s funny about that is there’s been a lot lately in the local media and among the fanbase, in the online discourse, around overuse of the big boys and burnout—too much ice time for the top guys and not enough for the bottom six. It’s funny because one of the things about Pete DeBoer specifically, as far as bench management goes—and you saw this most recently in Dallas—is that in the regular season, at least, nobody plays less than 10 minutes among the forwards, and nobody plays more than 20,”

The 57-year-old DeBoer is, of course, currently out of the NHL after being relieved of his duties as head coach of the Dallas Stars this past summer following a three-year stint behind the bench. He is, however, set to re-enter the spotlight as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Kris Knoblauch’s Seat has Gotten Warm

As if Wednesday night’s loss didn’t add enough fuel to the fire, reports had already suggested—prior to the game—that Knoblauch’s seat was starting to warm up.

Even before the loss to the Flames, TSN insider Darren Dreger had mentioned that the heat is going to be turned up on Knoblauch moving forward. Add in the result in Calgary, along with frustrations boiling over from one of the team’s superstar players after the fact, and the pressure has only intensified.

As long as Connor McDavid and Draisaitl are in Edmonton, expectations are nothing short of winning a Stanley Cup, and now more than ever in today’s game, coaches are often the first to go when such a team is struggling. Organizations are especially unafraid to pull the trigger quickly, something the Oilers saw firsthand with former head coach Jay Woodcroft, who was fired after just 133 regular-season games.

For comparison, Knoblauch is now 209 games into his tenure, so it’s safe to say that if things don’t turn around shortly after the Olympic break, his job could also be in jeopardy.

Next: Was McDavid Incident Why Frederic a Healthy Scratch in Calgary?