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Sunday Scramble: Where is your panic meter on the Edmonton Oilers?
Kris Knoblauch
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Michael Menzies
Feb 8, 2026, 18:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 8, 2026, 17:48 EST
Where is your panic meter on the Edmonton Oilers?
I joined Oilersnation Everyday with Liam Horrobin on Friday. Tyler was away, hence this long-haired scrub getting a chance on the show, amidst some tension, of course, about the team. We tackled panic meter questions surrounding the coaching and the front office’s ability to make moves. 
I put my meter at seven for both Kris Knoblauch and his staff, then another seven for Stan Bowman and his decision-making. I should qualify this by saying I’m never lower than, say, a four, on a list like this. That’s my baseline heartbeat. Call it Oiler fan trauma if you like.  
One question we didn’t get to, though, was about the players. The player’s performances warrant a seven as well. 
It’s only fair. 
At some point, the way the Oilers cycle through coaches can’t all be placed on the coaches. There are trends. But this is no trend – it’s quite literally how the whole McDrai era has gone. Barring two coaches in franchise history in Glen Sather and Craig MacTavish – maybe Ron Low as well – this is how it’s gone through the entire franchise’s history. 
The players bear responsibility too. Putting them collectively at a seven out of ten is fair. 

Paul Coffey

We’re going to find out a lot about Knoblauch as a coach after this Olympic break. Rarely are you afforded a significant pause in the schedule like this to re-evaluate your approach. 
It’s the type of break that, if used well, would be a talking point in the collector’s item DVD of a championship team. 
“We were really struggling, but we used that break, and it turned our season around…” 
Stauffer’s vague riddle from last week hinted at adding another coach to the staff. That’s an easy adjustment to help divvy up responsibilities even further. 
Remember, the staff a year ago under Knoblauch was Paul Coffey, Glen Gulutzan, and Mark Stuart. Four coaches, as opposed to the current three (Knoblauch, Stuart, and Paul McFarland). 
But Paul Coffey left under a shroud of rumoured friction with Knoblauch, not to mention his own health issues that make travel and long stretches standing on the bench uncomfortable for him. I don’t believe he’s coming back. 
So, who else is a candidate? This is where the Oilers have historically called on alumni for help. It feels very much like Coffey or bust. Otherwise, spin the wheel of current media personalities like Craig MacTavish.
I don’t have an answer there. 

It’s not the time

Also, I don’t see Knoblauch getting fired in-season, nor do I think it’s the right thing to do right now, despite my own critiques. Top candidate for every vacancy, Pete DeBoer, is in Milan-Cortina. He’s a good coach, but don’t forget how his teams sharply and suddenly fall of a cliff like clockwork. 
DeBoer wasn’t just fired because of his comments about Jake Oettinger after the Oilers beat them in five games – he made few adjustments and had no answers with a Dallas Stars roster that was loaded with talent. 
If there is truly desire from Stan Bowman to make a coaching change, I believe he waits until the summer. Also, I’m not entirely sure Bowman gets to make that call himself. 
Since CEO of Hockey Operations, Jeff Jackson, was hired, he’s exuded major control. He was de facto general manager for several weeks in the weird in-between era of Ken Holland and Stan Bowman. 
So Jackson’s fingerprints are on this team in a direct and public way that is uncommon for a president. 
He’s got a say and a relationship with Knoblauch.

‘Banging our heads against the wall…”

One last thing about Draisaitl’s electric post-game comments that included the coaches in the you-know-what.
Remember what Connor McDavid said after the 2025 Stanley Cup Final loss? It’s the only other time in the Knoblauch tenure I can remember public frustration with coaching.  
McDavid, after being asked what the difference was in the Florida series: 
“Obviously, their forecheck was great. They tilted the rink. They were able to kind of stay on top of us all over the place. [We were] never really able to generate any momentum up the ice. We kept f—ing trying the same thing over and over again, just banging our heads against the wall. So credit to them.”
So let’s not forget that the previous iteration of the staff, when the chips were down, couldn’t come up with answers in that final series. 
Agreed, winning the Stanley Cup and “outcoaching” the other team four straight rounds is very difficult. 
But hot quotes in this market, like this one, are worth remembering. 

Putting a bow on it

Brief housekeeping here on the Sunday Scramble when we break down some records. 
These final nine games before the Olympic break, I’d isolated as the “dominant” part of their schedule. After losses to Toronto and Calgary, they went 4-5 in that stretch. 
Not great.
The Oilers are eighth in the Western Conference in points percentage with a 28-22-8 record in 58 games. But they remain second in the Pacific Division, which is very familiar territory. They finished third in a stronger Pacific a year ago with a better roster. 
A year ago, on February 8, 2025, the Oilers were 34-17-4 and tied for the Pacific lead at the Four Nations break.
Out of the break, Edmonton lost four straight and surrendered 21 goals against. Some of these things make a guy believe in the eternal recurrence
  • Record at home: 15-10-4 
  • Record on road: 13-12-4 
  • Record vs Pacific: 7-3-3 
  • Record since xmas: 9-9-2 

Let’s wave the flag

Canada gets their tricky game right out of the gate against Czechia on Thursday at 8:40AM our time. Czechia has been Canadian kryptonite of late in the World Juniors, so despite our focus being on the rightfully deserved rivalry and tension with the US, this is a great test. 
The Czech powerplay with David Pastrňák and Martin Nečas ought to be able to create, and Lukas Dostal helped backstop CZE to a World Championship gold in 2024. 
They’re no slouch, but Canada is a -556 favourite right now on Bet365, and laying -2.5 on the puckline for a reason. 
Canada’s schedule: 
  • Czechia on Thursday at 8:40AM 
  • Switzerland on Friday at 1:10PM 
  • France on Sunday at 8:40AM 
I’ll be curious to see who Jon Cooper pairs with Connor McDavid, considering they passed on Zach Hyman again with Brayden Point’s injury. 
Missing a goalscorer, they went with an often-scratched or barely-used player at Four Nations in Seth Jarvis. With that said, I like Jarvis a lot. 
I am in the Macklin Celebrini camp in terms of trying him first with McDavid. I think Sam Reinhart, Mitch Marner, and maybe even Tom Wilson get a look with McDavid. 
If you are inclined to make a futures wager on medalling or outright winner, I always like Finland because they have a knack for just finding their way to a semi-final, but without Sasha Barkov and the inconsistency of Juuse Saros, I’m leery. 
Sweden at +750 isn’t a bad look, but it does seem like it’s Canada or the United States. Does either team get too wrapped up their own rivalry that they slip up beforehand? 

Please…

Also, for the love of God and everything holy, let the Seattle Seahawks slap the New England Patriots around today. 
If New England wins, there is simply no justice in this world… 

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and has been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, he also collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues.

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