Oilers Leaders Keep Taking Subtle Shots at Kris Knoblauch

Seemingly nobody was surprised to see the Edmonton Oilers to fire Kris Knoblauch shortly after their 2025-26 season came to an end. Despite leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final in each of his first two seasons with the organization, things felt stale for some time last year, and it was clear players were getting frustrated.

Rather than go with another laid-back persona similar to Knoblauch, Oilers general manager (GM) Stan Bowman elected to go with Mike Babcock, a coach who is well known to push buttons. While that hire may be nerve-racking for many teams and players around the league, it seems as though the roster out in Edmonton is quite excited about it.

Oilers Appeared Fed Up with Knoblauch

If you recall from last season, there was a game against the Calgary Flames right before the Olympic break where a frustrated Leon Draisaitl vented about the Oilers not being prepared to play. While that in itself isn’t usual to hear from a player, what made it such a talking point was the fact that he appeared to throw shade at Knoblauch.

“We’re not consistent enough, and this league’s too hard to just lollygag through games,” Draisaitl explained. “You need everybody. It starts with the coaches. Everybody. You’re never going to win if you have four or five guys going, and it starts at the top.”

Those comments gave somewhat of an idea as to what players in the dressing room were thinking, and it doesn’t seem as though it was just a one-off. Since the hiring of Babcock, McDavid has said several times that he feels it’s important to have a coach that pushes the group, including the top players.

“We want Babs to come in and be hard on Leon and [Nugent-Hopkins] and [Evan Bouchard] and [Mattias Ekholm] and [Zach Hyman] and me,” McDavid said. “We want to push those guys, and we want him lifting up everybody else. That’s what he’s here to do.”

Part of the criticism that Knoblauch received was that he didn’t do a good enough job of carving out roles for everybody on the team. Many bottom six forwards were stapled to the bench for the vast majority of the game, making it difficult to be impactful. It doesn’t sound as though that will be an issue with Babcock.

“We’re going to play 12 forwards, and everyone’s going to be important,” Babcock told reporters last Thursday. “So you have to have a role, and you have to understand what we expect.”

What’s also been harped on a ton when it comes to Babcock is how prepared he is. He puts as much time into his craft as any coach in the NHL, and preaches his players do the same. Part of that is by creating positive habits in practice, something that, based on a quote from Draisaitl, seemed to have gone to the wayside under Knoblauch’s guidance.

“[Our] everyday is the practices, the details, the little things that I think have gotten away from us a little bit over the last couple years,” Draisaitl said. “Now is the time to dial these back in, and it was a great start.”

These comments about being pushed and being better prepared have been said over and over again by McDavid and Draisaitl this offseason. They are the two leaders of this team, meaning that when they say things, they are speaking for the entire roster. Based on what we continue to hear, it sounds as though things may have been even worse under Knoblauch last season than fans had imagined.

Babcock Could Wind Up Working Out

Despite all the criticism the Oilers took after hiring Babcock, there’s no denying that he will add some structure and accountability that was clearly lacking under Knoblauch. While the type of style Babcock brings may not have a long shelf life, it could wind up being just what this team needs in order to finally get the job done this coming season.