Why Getting Fired Could Be the Best Thing for Kris Knoblauch
I'm always a little interested when a coach gets fired after doing a pretty good job. Kris Knoblauch is a good example. He didn't come into Edmonton with a long NHL head-coaching résumé. In fact, he didn't have any NHL head-coaching experience at all. And yet he took the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive seasons.
That's not exactly a coaching failure. The interesting thing is what happened afterward. The Oilers' 2025-26 season ended earlier than anyone wanted, and Knoblauch was out. That's how this business works. When you've got Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and you're trying to win now, patience can become a luxury.
Did the Oilers overcorrect in the face of no Stanley Cup?
But I wonder if we're sometimes too quick to connect getting fired with being a bad coach. Those aren't necessarily the same thing. Edmonton's situation has changed. This isn't a young team trying to figure out what it might become. This is a team that believes its window is open right now. That's a different job.
When you're coaching a young team, development matters. You can afford some mistakes. You can give players time to figure things out. When you're coaching the Oilers now, the question is much simpler: Can you get this group over the top?
That doesn't mean Knoblauch suddenly forgot how to coach. It may simply mean the organization believes it needs something different for the next stage.
Related: Whatever Happened to ex-Oilers' Jujhar Khaira?
This is where I think Knoblauch's future gets interesting.
A coach who has taken an inexperienced group to two Stanley Cup Finals isn't going to be unemployed forever. Someone will look at what he accomplished in Edmonton and decide there is a lot more there than one disappointing season.
Maybe his next job will actually be a better fit. Maybe he goes somewhere with a younger roster and gets another chance to build. And perhaps that's the lesson here. Coaching is a funny business. Sometimes you can do a very good job and still lose your job because the expectations around you have changed. The Oilers simply reached the point where “pretty good” wasn't good enough anymore.
Knoblauch is sitting at home watching and waiting.
And here's the part of the Knoblauch story I really like. He had only just started a new contract that he signed before last season, and now he's sitting at home getting paid. He's back where he grew up, near the University of Alberta where he went to school, and he's got no reason to be in a hurry. He can spend some time with his family, watch what's happening around the NHL and wait for the right opportunity.
That's smart. And there's something else going on here. The longer Knoblauch waits, the more his stock could rise. Every time another NHL team decides it needs a coach, his name is going to come up. He doesn't have to chase the next job. He can wait until there's some urgency somewhere and decide whether it's the right fit. Sometimes getting fired isn't the end of the story. Sometimes it's the chance to sit back and let the next opportunity come looking for you.