Woodcroft was fired as Oilers coach and replaced by Knoblauch

Jay Woodcroft was fired as coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.

The Oilers (3-9-1) are coming off a 4-1 win at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, but sit seventh in the Pacific Division, ahead of only the San Jose Sharks (2-11-1). They are 2-7-1 in their past 10 games and 0-4-1 at Rogers Place, with their only home win coming when they hosted the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium on October 29 (5-2 victory vs. Calgary Flames).

The 47-year-old was 79-41-13 in 133 regular season games over three seasons with the Oilers, and 14-14 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He replaced Dave Tippett as coach on February 10, 2022, after leading Edmonton’s American Hockey League affiliate in Bakersfield for four seasons.

“I woke up this morning, we arrived late last night, and I called Woody and (assistant coach) Dave Munson and told them we were making a coaching change,” Oilers general manager Ken Holland said. “I have a relationship with Woody dating back to 2005 when he was the video coach with the Detroit Red Wings. I want to thank them for their contributions to our team over the past two years and helping us get to the Final Four and Final Eight. They work hard, and they are good hockey players. “This is a difficult decision and obviously we are in a business where you have to win games.”

Chris Knoblauch has been appointed as Woodcroft’s replacement. The 45-year-old, who will captain an NHL team for the first time, has coached the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford for the past four seasons. Previously, he coached Oilers captain Connor McDavid for three seasons (2012-2015) with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League, where the forward had 285 points (97 goals, 188 assists) in 166 games, including 44 goals and 120 points in… final match. The season before Edmonton selected him No. 1 in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Knoblauch’s first game as Edmonton’s coach will come at home against the New York Islanders on Monday (8:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, MSGSN).

“For this opportunity, it’s an incredible opportunity,” Knoblauch said. “It’s been a crazy last 24 hours for me. I was on the bench yesterday in Hartford and I took a plane to get here and be able to coach an Edmonton Oilers team that has such a strong hockey culture, history and passionate fans. Here as a coach, this is a dream come true for me.”

Manson was replaced by Paul Coffey, a 2004 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, four-time Stanley Cup champion (three times with Edmonton) and three-time Norris Trophy winner who scored 48 goals for the Oilers in 1985-86, an NHL single-season record. By the defenseman.

Under Woodcroft, the Oilers have qualified for the playoffs in each of the past two seasons but have been eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion each time. They were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Western Conference Final and lost in six games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference second round last season.

This season, Edmonton ranks 29th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (3.92), ahead of only the Minnesota Wild (3.93) and San Jose (4.43).

“I was hoping we would win the game, and after we lost the game to San Jose (3-2) on Thursday night, [Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson] “I started getting really serious about, should we consider making a coaching change, and obviously I made the decision to make that decision,” Holland said.

Hartford assistant Steve Smith, a three-time Cup-winning defenseman with the Oilers (1987, 88, 90), will take over for Knoblauch on an interim basis.

NHL.com staff writer Derek Van Diest contributed to this report