Over the next few weeks, I will be looking at the five biggest questions that will define this summer for the Oilers and, in turn, could wind up defining the Connor McDavid era.

If they play their cards right this summer, then they could set themselves up to have at least two more runs with McDavid on their roster.

If this summer goes poorly, then, as Leon Draisaitl so eloquently put it, “god knows” what could happen.

Part one of my five defining question series starts with the man behind the bench.

Should the Oilers move on from Kris Knoblauch?

For most Oilers fans, the answer is obvious. Some were clamouring for a coaching change at different points during the regular season, but at that point, all Knoblauch had done in his few seasons behind the bench was lead the team to Stanley Cup Finals.

I believed that he deserved another crack at showing that he could get this team to play their best hockey come playoff time.

That obviously didn’t happen and both he and his coaching staff are a pretty big reason why.

This team only won three games in a row twice over the course of their 82-game regular season. That falls on the coaching staff as much as it falls on the players. They couldn’t consistently play at their highest level for even a week straight at any point in the season.

It’s not just the confidence of the fan base either. There are a few other signs from this season that show that Knoblauch may have lost the confidence of some important people around him.

At his exit interview on Saturday, Leon Draisaitl said that the entire organization needs to be better from management, to coaching, to the players. He also said that the coaching staff needed to be better back in February following a loss to the Calgary Flames.

After last season’s Stanley Cup Final loss, McDavid said that the Oilers were trying the same things over and over again and beating their heads against a wall. Then later on, when asked why the Oilers couldn’t play as structured as a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning, McDavid deflected and simply said that the question should be asked of Knoblauch.

There are enough instances of the Oilers’ star players saying that the coaching staff needs to be better to think that they might be open to a change.

On top of that, we had the drama surrounding Paul Coffey.

After leaving the Oilers bench at the end of last season, Coffey rejoined the team just over halfway through this season.

There were many reports out there, some conflicting. Some said that there was a rift between Knoblauch and Coffey and that the Oilers’ head coach didn’t want him back. Some said that Knoblauch welcomed Coffey back and that the decision to leave was purely Coffey’s.

Personally, I don’t buy that this was all Knoblauch’s decision. I think Coffey coming back onto the Oilers bench shows that at some level in the organization, Knoblauch and his staff lost trust.

I believe Kris Knoblauch has coached his final game for the Edmonton Oilers.

I think this team needs a fresh voice to come in and spark them right out of the gates next season and there are some very interesting candidates that are available and some that could be available.

Let’s start with the fantasy land option — no, not the hotel — I’m talking about Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021, the Lightning lost in the second round in 2022 and are now on a streak of four first-round exits.

For a team with legit Stanley Cup aspirations, they’re currently stuck in a rut, and that makes me wonder if either the organization would consider a coaching change or if Cooper himself would maybe welcome a change of scenery.

It’s easy to assume that Cooper would have loved coaching McDavid at both the 4-Nations Face Off and the 2026 Olympics, and we know from his comments earlier this season that the Oilers captain is quite fond of Cooper.

If the future Hall of Fame head coach were looking for a next challenge, Edmonton would be the perfect landing spot for him.

Again, there is no guarantee that he becomes available.

Bruce Cassidy is available right now. He is also a Stanley Cup-winning head coach who is known for getting the most out of his teams for 2-3 year periods.

Well, that time frame lines up well with what the Oilers are looking for.

Cassidy has made comments recently about being intrigued by the idea of coaching a Canadian team, so it’s fair to assume that there would be some interest there.

One trait of Cassidy’s teams that should excite Oilers fans: they always perform strongly in the regular season. In his last nine years as a Head Coach, his team’s have had a points percentage above .650 in eight of them.

It would be nice to see the Oilers dominate the regular season for once.

Other names that could be of interest include David Carle from the University of Denver, although that’s probably more of a pipe dream than Cooper. Peter Laviolette is a veteran head coach without a job, but I would prefer Cassidy over him. Manny Malholtra is an up-and-coming name who will get interest for head coaching jobs this summer, but I think the Oilers will go with someone more experienced.

Will the Oilers have a new bench boss next fall? I think it’s almost a certainty, and unless Cooper becomes available, I would be surprised if Bruce Cassidy isn’t the guy.

PRESENTED BY DERRICK DODGE

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