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Letters to the Editor: ‘Maybe, just maybe, it is the coaches’ who are the Oilers’ issue
Photo credit: Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk
By Zach Laing
Feb 8, 2026, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 7, 2026, 22:52 EST
Got your coffee? It’s time to dig into this week’s Letters to the Editor. Want to join in the fun? Details about how to reach out are at the bottom of the article.
In and out…
Maybe the Edmonton Oilers’ issues are with the coaching staff, because we see different lineups every game, bringing players in and out for a few games. Then they throw them in looking for a different scenario, but they have little recent game experience, and when it goes bad, they’re out of the lineup again.
So maybe, just maybe, it is the coaches, and they can’t get their heads together, how can we expect the rest of the team to play? How many different linemates have Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid played with? Just about every game is different!
Victor Ritchie
(There’s no denying some of the Oilers’ issues are on the coaching staff, which, mind you, fully entails Kris Knoblauch’s hires.)
Leon was right!
One of Leon Draisaitl’s comments was that this year’s team is “not as good as previous years’, not even close.”
This could mean either that the players are not playing nearly as well as they can, or that the players are playing as well as they can but they are not nearly as good players in previous years. I wonder what he meant.
There has been a major change over this year from last.
Players out are Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, Stuart Skinner, Corey Perry, Connor Brown, Brett Kulak, Troy Stecher, and Calvin Pickard. Eight players.
The new players in are Andrew Mangiapane, Jack Roslovic, Matt Savoie, Curtis Lazar, Trent Frederic (I’m counting him as a new player), Spencer Stastney, Alec Regula, Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram. You might include Josh Samanski in that, so nine or ten players — almost half the roster.
That is a big change over.
I don’t pretend to be a mind reader to tell anyone what Draisaitl meant. But if you look at the incumbents, Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen, Adam Henrique, Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard, Jake Walman, Mattias Ekholm, Mattias Janmark and Ty Emberson.
For this observer, the play of this group is not far different from previous years. You might argue the defencemen here are not playing as well as in previous years and Henrique has lost a step, but I would not say “not even close.” So, I suspect the comment was more a critique of the new players than of the incumbents. And therefore, also a critique of management.
By the way, since 2023 only 8 players remain on the roster: McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Nurse, Ekholm, Bouchard and surprisingly, Janmark.
What do you think?
Ed from Edmonton
(Mangiapane and Frederic take up $7.45 million of the Oilers cap. Mangiapane has six goals and 12 points in 49 games. Frederic has two goals and an assist in 55 games. Wasted money.)
Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly “Letters to the Editor” segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation’s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com), titled “Letters to the Editor.” Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 PM MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.
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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