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Saturday night in Seattle, Jay Woodcroft’s Edmonton Oilers delivered their best and most complete game of the season. They put 4 goals on the board in the first period and then smothered the Kraken the rest of the way, allowing just 18 shots, a measly 4 Grade A shots, and most importantly just a single goal in cruising to a convincing 4-1 win.

By Sunday morning, however, they were no longer Jay Woodcroft’s Edmonton Oilers. The innovative coach was given his walking papers after just 133 games at the helm, as initially broken by Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman.Friedman was not the only one who thought last night’s win might buy Woodcroft a little time. Among them, the Cult of Hockey‘s own Kurt Leavins in his Sunday morning column, 9 Things. My own most recent post pointed out that the now former coach had compiled a splendid record over 120 games, literally 10x the sample of the dismal dozen that kicked off the current campaign. He departs the organization with a record of 79-41-13 over parts of three seasons, his .643 points percentage being the best of any coach in the history of the franchise.

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Into his place steps Kris Knoblauch, hired from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, as first reported by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

The Oilers themselves verified the moves, which also includes a change of defensive assistants from Dave Manson to Paul Coffey.

Reaction to these moves has been swift and brutal, as reported here by colleague David Staples. Many are understandably upset with Oilers management, especially GM Ken Holland who gifted Woodcroft with a short roster which worked fine as long as the club stayed healthy, but which presented plenty of issues when they were not. The GM’s signing of Jack Campbell to a 5x $5 million contract in the summer of 2022 to “solve” the goaltending position has been under intense scrutiny since the outset, and the recent demotion of Campbell to the AHL after a dismal start only intensifying that focus.

Make no mistake, however, today’s moves were not orchestrated by Holland. Instead they bear the fingerprints of Jeff Jackson, hired by the Oilers this past summer as the CEO of Hockey Operations. It seemed clear from the outset that Coffey, a Hall of Fame defenceman from the Oilers dynasty years, was something of a right hand man.

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What’s his connection with Kris Knoblauch? Here is ESPN senior hockey writer Greg Wyshynski, citing a 2017 article on Knoblauch penned by AP hockey writer Stephen Whyno.

Knoblauch may be new to the Oilers, but he’s hardly new to the city. He played two seasons with the Edmonton Ice in the WHL before that club moved to Kootenay in 1998. A year later, he was back for a full five-year stint with University of Alberta Golden Bears. I personally saw him play a significant number of games with both clubs at two of this city’s true hockey barns, the late and unlamented Agricom and the still-beloved Clare Drake Arena. Knoblauch was a big, hard-nosed winger with decent offensive skills and an impressive two-way game. Alas, he lacked the foot speed to succeed at the professional level, and soon turned to coaching.

He found success at that level, leading the (Kootenay) Ice to a shock WHL title in his first year as the head man in 2010-11. He then accomplished a similar feat with Erie Otters of the OHL in 2016-17 after four consecutive 50-win seasons, no mean feat in a 68-game schedule. Along the way, he coached Connor McDavid for three years, a connection that has seen his name floated as a possible future Oilers coach for some years, notably by prominent radio host Bob Stauffer.

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Knoblauch then left the junior ranks, serving as Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant for two years before becoming the head man of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack in 2019. His squad, the top affiliate of New York Rangers, posted a so-so 119-90-32 record during his time there.

Now he joins the Oilers as the new bench boss. What to expect? Jeff Jackson’s words from 6 years ago have a nice ring to them today, or any day for that matter: “He teaches a culture of winning and speed and puck movement, but he empowers all the kids.”

That latter issue is one where Woodcroft took some criticism, as opportunity and ice time have been limited for youngsters such as Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, and Raphael Lavoie to name three youngsters drafted during the Ken Holland era. All three are averaging less than 12 minutes a night in 2023-24, with Holloway’s goal in Seattle being the first point scored by any of them in a combined 25 GP this season. Some might blame the coach for that deployment, others the management and scouting that supplied the talent.

It will be interesting to see how Knoblauch approaches that thorny issue, and deployment more generally. He will also be tasked with nursing McDavid through a funk that has seen him score just 2 points, both secondary assists, in the 6 games since his return from a 2-game absence due to injury. Both he and Leon Draisaitl have been far from their usual form, a huge part of Edmonton’s lagging performance this season.

Can Kris Knoblauch press the right buttons? Only time will tell. But what we can say today is that these are Jeff Jackson’s Edmonton Oilers.

Recently at the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: Hockey world reacts to firing of Jay Woodcroft

LEAVINS: 9 Things — why not give Woodcroft more of a chance?

STAPLES: Oilers lose their most prominent fan

McCURDY: What tells us more about Woodcroft, 120 good games or 12 bad ones? 

Staples: Out of touch Oilers may cost Woodcroft his job

LEAVINS: Game grades vs Sharks