Oilers fire Woodcroft 13 games into season
The Edmonton Oilers fired head coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant coach Dave Manson after starting the season 3-9-1, the club announced Sunday.
Kris Knoblauch is replacing Woodcroft in the lead role, and legendary former defenseman Paul Coffey will join Knoblauch as an assistant coach. Knoblauch was the bench boss for the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack and Connor McDavid's coach with the OHL's Erie Otters.
Woodcroft finishes his Oilers tenure with a 79-41-13 regular-season record. Knoblauch is the club's fifth head coach since Edmonton drafted McDavid first overall in 2015.
General manager Ken Holland explained the decision to make the coaching change.
"We're in the win-now mode," Holland said. "We've talked about that over the last few years - since I got here. When you look at our team, the players on the team, the age of the team, the time is now to try to win."
As for the timing, Holland believes he couldn't afford to wait any longer.
"We can get into a debate. Is 12 games or 13 games enough? I think if you wait another 10 games and things don't change it's probably too late," he said. "So (CEO Jeff Jackson) and I felt that it was something that needed to be done."
Knoblauch last coached in the NHL in March 2021, when he led the New York Rangers for six games while David Quinn was in COVID-19 protocol. Knoblauch was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The Wolf Pack, the Rangers' AHL affiliate, hired him as their bench boss in July 2019.
"To be able to coach the Edmonton Oilers, with such a strong hockey culture, history, and passionate fans, to be here as a head coach is a little bit of a dream for me," said Knoblauch, who's from Imperial, Saskatchewan.
Edmonton's new head coach has played a role in the development of numerous NHLers, including McDavid, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Anthony Cirelli, and Travis Dermott.
The Oilers entered Sunday sitting second-last in the NHL and lost to the 32nd-place San Jose Sharks on Thursday - the club's fourth consecutive defeat. Edmonton defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-1 on Saturday night to snap the skid. The Oilers now sit 12 points behind third place in the Pacific Division and eight points back of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Edmonton owns the league's second-worst save percentage at five-on-five (.889) and the worst mark in all situations (.864), according to Natural Stat Trick. The Oilers have been let down by a usually dominant offense, sitting 26th with 2.69 goals per game. Their historically proficient power play has cooled to a ninth-ranked 23.9% conversion rate.
The club has been solid at even strength, owning the league's best five-on-five expected goals rate at 57.82%. However, Edmonton hasn't been able to overcome its 31st-ranked shooting percentage of 6.49.
Woodcroft took over the Edmonton bench in February 2022 after the club dismissed Dave Tippett. Woodcroft guided the team to a 26-9-3 finish that season and advanced to the Western Conference Final, the furthest the club has gone in the McDavid era.
The Oilers racked up 109 points in 2022-23 before losing in the second round of the playoffs. They were a popular Stanley Cup pick this preseason after showing improved form under Woodcroft, but they haven't found their usual winning recipe.
The 2023-24 campaign was viewed as a particularly critical point of the Oilers' championship window, as McDavid and fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl are under contract through 2025-26 and 2024-25, respectively.