Despite all of the smoke this week about the Edmonton Oilers and Bruce Cassidy being the team’s reported target at head coach, general manager Stan Bowman said he would be casting a wide net in searching for Kris Knoblauch’s replacement.

The process is without a timeline, Bowman said, though they aren’t looking to “drag this out,” but what was clear from his Thursday press conference is that the team is looking for a coach to be able to get the most out of the roster.

“We plan to do a wide search and talk to a number of coaches to understand their philosophies on what they would see and envision with our team, with the current group, as well as what other types of players they think are going to help them play their system to the best,” Bowman said. “Do we have those players? Can we acquire those players?

“That’s going to be the next phase. There has to be an alignment there between the strengths of the coach.”

Alignment was an oft-talked-about issue with this team. Dating back to the start of the 2024-25 season, Knoblauch’s first full year with the team, there seemed to be a lack of cohesion at times between the players that management was bringing in and their deployment.

Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson, brought in to be top-six scorers, struggled to find a consistent spot in the lineup. Arvidsson, a consistent depth scorer for years with the Nashville Predators and L.A. Kings, saw his offensive game dry up, only to be completely rehydrated this year with the Boston Bruins, scoring 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games. This year, Trent Frederic and Andrew Mangiapane, the latter of whom was traded ahead of the trade deadline, were the two most glaring examples of players who couldn’t find their fit.

“We’re not going to be changing out a significant portion of our roster,” Bowman said. “So when you take a look at those players, what they do well, then you start talking to coaches about how they envision using those players.

“You have to listen, and then you have to choose the one that you think is going to be able to maximize the players.”

When diagnosing what went wrong this season, Bowman was quick to point out the team’s lack of consistent play throughout the season. The power play, he noted, was one of the only consistent parts of the Oilers’ game, but that’s difficult to rely on as how many opportunities your team gets can change on a nightly basis. Edmonton’s waiting until the playoffs to try and flip a switch was another point of contention for the general manager.

“I think we weren’t able to build a consistent game this year,” he said. “I think we had elements of it.

“There were times we showed that we could be a strong defensive team, but it was, it was very in and out. And there were times when we could score a lot of goals, but there were times when also we struggled to score early on. We need more. You need to have sort of your hallmark as a team that you can — when things do start to slip a little bit in a season, what’s your baseline that you can always go back to? I don’t think we had that.

“We have to build that, we have to find that. What could it be? That’s going to be up to the coach.”

While Knoblauch and his assistant Mark Stuart were officially let go Thursday, the remainder of the Oilers’ assistants will remain on staff, before being evaluated by the next bench boss. Whether it’s Cassidy or another coach, the Oilers will have options available.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.