When Stan Bowman spoke to the media Thursday morning, he was quick to acknowledge that the Edmonton Oilers‘ shortcomings were not solely on the shoulders of head coach Kris Knoblauch, whom the club fired earlier in the day. They fell on him and his management staff, too.

After the Oilers were eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round, Bowman said in his season-ending press conference the team would embark on an internal review to get to the bottom of a season that they finished with their worst record since 2018-19.

“I think we definitely were part to blame for where we are today. I’m not trying to hide from that,” said Bowman, when asked about how much of the Oilers’ issues fall on management.

“In my experience of being in hockey for many years, teams that don’t have success, there’s usually culpability in a lot of different areas. There’s no question that that was the case here.

“There’s blame to be had by all of us, myself included. We had players that didn’t perform to the level we should. We had players that I brought in that didn’t perform to the level that we expected them to.”

The Oilers hired Bowman on July 24, 2024, one month after their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 18 years. Edmonton returned to the Final the following season, but their results in both the regular season and playoffs have regressed in consecutive years.

Bowman has received criticism for several moves he made during his tenure with the Oilers.

Less than a month after he joined the organization, the St. Louis Blues signed Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to offer sheets, which Bowman did not match. Holloway has since achieved back-to-back 20-goal seasons with the Blues, and Broberg has become a fixture on their top-two defensive pairs, with both now signed to long-term deals.

The following summer, he signed Trent Frederic to an eight-year contract worth an AAV of $3.85 million. In the first season of his new deal, Frederic failed to reach 10 points for the first time since 2021.

This season, Bowman traded Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak, and a second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Tristan Jarry. In 19 regular-season games with the Oilers, Jarry had a 3.86 goals-against average and an .858 save percentage. He started only one of the team’s six playoff games this spring.

Following their review, Bowman said the organization ultimately concluded that a coaching change was the best path forward.

“There was the discussion of, where are we at now, and do we have the belief that maybe a different voice would be able to tap into the players that we have to a different degree and get us to another level. And that’s the decision that we made.”

News of Knoblauch’s firing came after NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported Tuesday that the Oilers had sought permission to interview former Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy.

If it wasn’t already, the Oilers’ search for a new head coach is now underway.