Few NHL head coaches know what Kris Knoblauch is going through more than Bruce Boudreau.

Boudreau was unceremoniously fired by the Vancouver Canucks in 2023, and on Tuesday was on Daily Faceoff’s Morning Cuppa Hockey, where he was asked about what Knoblauch could be going through in the wake of the Edmonton Oilers trying to speak with Bruce Cassidy.

“I would have red flags up if I was sitting at home and I heard that,” Boudreau said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are gonna be fired, but it means that they’re thinking about it.”

To Boudreau, the report of Cassidy being sought after by the Oilers proves that Knoblauch is on a short leash with the team. However, he also says that fans shouldn’t put too much stock into Knoblauch’s status at this point, as they might just be “fishing for somebody.”

It is currently unknown if the Oilers have had any contact with Knoblauch prior to, or following, Tuesday’s news, about his status.

Boudreau was a head coach in the NHL from 2008-2026, only finding himself unoccupied in the 2020-21 season. He began with the Washington Capitals, the Anaheim Ducks, then the Minnesota Wild, and finished his coaching career with the Vancouver Canucks.

The former coach recalled that when he was in Vancouver, he caught wind of the team speaking with other coaches during the 2022 off-season.

“I phoned right away and said, ‘What’s going on?’ and they said, ‘Oh no, you’re still the coach,'” he said. “I did get fired 21 games in that year.”

Boudreau was fired by the Canucks on Jan. 22, 2023, after his team started the season with just 18 wins in 46 games. They replaced him with Rick Tocchet, and the next season they returned to the playoffs, however, they have missed for the second year in a row yet again.

In the 2007-08 season, Boudreau won the Jack Adams Memorial Trophy awarded to the best coach in the NHL, after taking over for Glen Hanlon in November. He coached the team to a 37-17-7 record after their 6-14-1 start to the season. In his 15 years, his teams have qualified for the playoffs 11 times. He missed once with Anaheim and once with Minnesota, then in both his seasons with the Canucks, they failed to make the post-season.