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Pagnotta: Don’t expect Oilers to make coaching change any time soon
Edmonton Oilers Kris Knoblauch
Photo credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Zach Laing
Nov 21, 2025, 14:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 21, 2025, 13:20 EST
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It’s been tough sledding to start the 2025-26 season for the Edmonton Oilers.
The team has sputtered out of the gate for their third consecutive season, despite spending all of the pre-season and training camp talking about how the exact outcome they’ve faced is what they wanted to avoid.
They sit with a .500 record that’s slightly worse than their 2024-25 start, and slightly better than their 2023-24 start. It’s the mushy middle, so they say.
All of this, mind you, in a year in which Kris Knoblauch was handed a three-year extension with the Oilers, putting pen to paper in early October to keep him with the team through the 2027-28 campaign. His team’s start to the season, however, has brought up questions about just how secure his spot behind the Oilers bench is — understandably so, given the Stanley Cup or bust expectations this team has.
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, though, isn’t so convinced the team is considering a change.
“I know a lot of people in Alberta are going nuts as well for something, but you just signed Knoblauch to a three-year extension,” he said on Wednesday’s edition of The DFO Rundown, after talking about how the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t likely to make a coaching change. “The Flames just signed (Ryan) Huska to a two-year extension.
“You’re probably not signing these guys and then making a coaching change two months later. I get it that everyone’s going nuts about this, losing their minds, but maybe it’s the roster construction that’s not up to snuff for some of these teams.
“Maybe the realism is Toronto’s not deep enough, Edmonton’s not deep enough right now. The Flames aren’t that good right now. So you have to take all of that into consideration… So no, I don’t expect a coaching change in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary anytime soon.”
The Oilers haven’t been shy about making coaching changes in the past, given Knoblauch is the seventh head coach since Connor McDavid entered the league 11 years ago. Jay Woodcroft was fired in November of 2023, just one year into a contract extension, while Dave Tippett was fired in the final year of a three-year contract. Todd McLellan, meanwhile, was fired with a full year remaining on his contract.
In recent years, the Oilers have shown an ability to bounce back from these sluggish starts, but if the team doesn’t find a way to turn things around, it’s safe to say some kind of change will need to be made either behind the bench or through a trade that would shake up the roster.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, 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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