The Edmonton Oilers fired coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant Dave Manson on Sunday.
The Alberta team also confirmed that Woodcroft will be replaced by Kris Knoblauch, who led the New York Rangers’ American League farm club, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Knoblauch was Connor McDavid’s head coach with the Erie Otters at junior level from 2012 to 2015.
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The 45-year-old notably won an Ontario League championship in the 2016-2017 season. He then made the jump to the National Hockey League as an assistant to coaches Dave Hakstol and Scott Gordon at the Philadelphia Flyers.
With the Wolf Pack, Knoblauch only reached the playoffs once in four seasons. Before taking the Oilers job, he led his team to a 7-3-1 record this year.
Legend Paul Coffey, who held an advisory role within the organization, was set to sit behind the bench as an assistant coach.
These decisions come the day after the Oilers’ 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.
However, the Alberta team has posted a 3-9-1 record so far this season, good for second-to-last place in the NHL standings. The team had lost four straight games before Saturday night’s win, including one against the weak San Jose Sharks. At the beginning of the season, several observers assumed that the Oilers were among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup next spring.
Team captain McDavid is neutral by his own standards this season, with two goals and eight assists in 11 games.
Woodcroft had been in office since February 2022. In 133 games at the helm of the Oilers, he posted a 79-41-13 record. During this period, the club reached the West final in 2022 and then the second round last season.