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Former Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey reportedly ‘butted heads’ with other members of coaching staff
Edmonton Oilers Paul Coffey
Photo credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Lewis
Nov 19, 2025, 13:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 19, 2025, 13:22 EST
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When the Edmonton Oilers opened the 2025-26 season a little over one month ago, the primary point of concern was whether the team’s goaltending duo could be good enough to get them over the hump.
Now sitting with a mediocre 9-8-4 record at the quarter-mark of the campaign, that concern has ballooned from run-of-the-mill goaltending uncertainty to full-on panic about team defence.
The Oilers are 29th in the NHL with 73 goals against through 21 games. That’s an average of just under 3.5 goals against per game.
Last season, they finished 14th with 235 goals against. In 2023-24, the year Kris Knoblauch and Paul Coffey took over behind the bench for Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson following a disastrous start, the Oilers finished 10th in the NHL with 236 goals against.
The drop from roughly 2.87 goals against per game over the past two seasons to almost 3.5 goals against per game this year has been staggering. At this rate, the Oilers are on pace to allow 285 goals over 82 games.
Edmonton’s goalie tandem hasn’t done well thus far, as Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have combined for a .871 save percentage with -13.6 goals saved above average.
But there’s more to this underwhelming start than goaltending, or a lack thereof.
Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, the Oilers ranked seventh in the league in terms of expected goals against per 60 minutes at even strength with 2.39. So far in 2025-26, they’re 15th with 2.98 expected goals against per 60 minutes at even strength.
With largely the same D-corps on the roster from when Edmonton cruised through the Western Conference playoff bracket in the spring, many hoped that defence would be a strength of the team this season. Through 21 games, that’s been far from the case.
The Oilers should, at the very least, be a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to giving up goals. Instead, weaker team defence combined with their usual goalie concerns has them near the basement, looking jarringly similar to the teams from the Peter Chiarelli era that missed the playoffs in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
So, what’s the issue? Are players working through nagging injuries? Are they exhausted from all the playoff games in the past couple of years?
Those are likely contributing factors to another slow start, but the changes made behind the bench during the off-season might be the biggest reason why the Oilers look like a completely different team than they did a few months ago.
Frank Seravalli of B/R Open Ice was asked earlier this week about the impact of Paul Coffey leaving Edmonton’s coaching staff. Seravalli noted that the Hall of Fame defender brought an intensity to the bench that helped keep the team on its toes, but also rubbed some other members of the staff the wrong way.
“How much was Paul Coffey holding the Oilers together? I think that’s one of the things that hasn’t been talked about enough, the coaching staff changes that occured in Edmonton.
It’s on both ends of this, right? Glen Gulutzan with the forwards, he leaves to become the head coach of the Dallas Stars. And on the backend, they lose Paul Coffey, who is still an advisor to the team, but is no longer an assistant coach.
I think he had butted heads at various points in time with some other members of the coaching staff, because of the hard edge that he has. But it’s also part of what made this Oiler defence a lot more formidable. He kept everyone on their toes because he’s someone that has that intensity to him.
It’s been way too laissez-faire for the Oilers so far to start this season. Their attention to detail, their effort, their consistency, all those things. Not a perfect situation with Paul Coffey, but you can’t argue with the results, because the Oilers defended much, much better previously under his control.”
Back in July, the Oilers announced a handful of changes to their coaching staff. Paul McFarland was brought on to take over for Gulutzan as the assistant coach working with forwards and the power play. Long-time Edmonton goalie coach Dustin Schwartz was let go, and Peter Aubry, who previously worked for the Chicago Blackhawks, took over his role. Coffey moved back into an advisor position, and his post was filled internally, with Mark Stuart taking over as defence and penalty kill coach.
Power play guru Gulutzan leaving to lead the team the Oilers beat in back-to-back Western Conference Finals raised eyebrows, while changing goalie coaches fulfilled a demand that fans had been screaming about for years. With those two moves grabbing headlines, the departure of Coffey flew under the radar in Edmonton.
Now past the point where we can call this another slow start, it’s difficult not to wonder if the Oilers are missing some intensity in their dressing room and on the bench.

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