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‘It starts with the coaches’: Leon Draisaitl latest to call out Oilers after another loss
Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl Connor McDavid Zach Hyman
Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Zach Laing
Feb 5, 2026, 02:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 5, 2026, 02:15 EST
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Things have gotten tense for the Edmonton Oilers.
Heading into January, the team stared down an eight-game homestand they hoped to take advantage of, only to fall flat, going 4-4. The penultimate game of the stand, a 7-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, saw netminder Tristan Jarry’s post-game comments take aim at his teammates.
“I think the chances that we’re giving up, some of the shots, they’re tough,” he said. “I think it’s a lot of grade A’s, a lot of breakdowns. I think it’s tough to really think about your game at this point. I think it’s a whole team game.”
The Oilers followed it up with another loss, falling 5-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday, and after the team lost a third straight, watching the Calgary Flames topple them 4-3, it was Leon Draisaitl’s pointed comments that had everyone’s ears perk up.
“We’re not consistent enough, and this league’s too hard to just lollygag through games and try to get winning streaks going,” said Draisaitl, who scored twice and had five shots on net. “You need everybody. It starts with the coaches, like, everybody.
“You’re never going to win if you have four or five guys going. It starts at the top. We can be better, our leaders can be better, and we’ll take the break and regroup.”
Too often this season, poor starts to games have sunk the Oilers, and Wednesday night was no different, as Jonathan Huberdeau gave the Flames a 1-0 lead just 3:12 into the game. It came not long after Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch shuffled the lines ahead of the game, bumping Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from the top line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman to centring the third line alongside Jack Roslovic and Andrew Mangiapane.
But when the game was all said and done, Nugent-Hopkins’ most common linemates at five-on-five were McDavid and Hyman. Draisaitl, meanwhile, started the game with Matt Savoie and Kasperi Kapanen, but he, too, would wind up with most of his minutes spent with Vasily Podkolzin and Kapanen — his linemates from games before.
Draisaitl would go on to play his most minutes in a game that didn’t go to overtime this season, 25 minutes adn 27 seconds, while McDavid played his second most, 26 minutes and 30 seconds.
When asked how much previous success has played into this season for the Oilers, Draisaitl was quick to point out how this team and previous ones can’t be compared.
“We’re a different team. We’re not the same team,” said Draisaitl. “We’re not as good right now. We’re not even close. We need to understand that. It’s time. Obviously there’s a break now, but when we come back, we gotta get going.”
Jarry, meanwhile, took accountability for his own play in the loss.
“I think I could have made some more saves,” he said. “I think ultimately, if I can keep that game at two, we come out with a better outcome. I think I could have played better to start, and I think that’ll be (the case) moving forward.”
Draisaitl said the Oilers need to make life easier on Jarry in games like this.
“We got to defend better, we got to make it easier on him and then I’m sure he can be a little bit better too,” he said.”It’s a two way street, but it starts with us in front of him and then game becomes a little bit easier for him. But I think there’s saves that our goalies need to make at some point.”
The Oilers need the Olympic break as a chance to reset, Knoblauch would say after the game, highlighting how with the team getting a week of practice before they begin games again on Feb. 25th, they’ll have a “mini training camp.”
“It looks like we need a little break right now. We can reset,” he said. “We’ve got this time to refocus and also make any adjustments that we might want to make.
“(Us) coaches have a long time to look at, really evaluate what we want to do. We’ve got a little mini training camp coming back where we’ve got about a week to focus on things that we need to get better at or any changes that we need to make.”
The Oilers will come out of the break with a three-game road trip visiting the Ducks on the 25th, the L.A. Kings the next night, and the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 28th. Then, on March 3rd, they host the Ottawa Senators in Edmonton for their last game before March 6th’s trade deadline.
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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.

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