Oilers reportedly make final decision on Kris Knoblauch's future
The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly making a coaching change, and the man they wanted to talk to wasn't available. Kris Knoblauch's job is the one in question.
That news broke Tuesday morning when insider Frank Seravalli reported the Vegas Knights denied Edmonton permission to interview Bruce Cassidy. The Mug NHL flagged the bigger takeaway.
The Knights aren't letting their ancient bench boss walk into a division rival's office. And honestly? Why would they.
Cassidy just lost his job to John Tortorella, but he's still on the Golden Knight's payroll.
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So Stan Bowman is back at square one. Edmonton finished 41-30-11 with 93 points, 14th in the league, second in the Pacific behind the team that just slammed the door on him.
The head-to-head numbers tell their own story. Edmonton won three of four against Vegas this season, including an overtime road win and a 4-2 statement in March.
What's next for Stan Bowman and the Oilers search
Beating Cassidy's group three times in a season and still firing the coach who did it. That's the part Edmonton fans should sit with for a minute.
Knoblauch took over in November 2023 and dragged this group to a Cup Final the following spring. Now he's the report fall guy for a team that scored 282 goals but allowed 269.
Connor McDavid at $12.5 million and Leon Draisaitl at $14 million are still in their primes. The cap structure isn't getting easier next summer either.
A 6-1 win over Vancouver in the last game of the regular season won't change Bowman's mind. The fact that he asked to speak with Cassidy says it all about his decision.
The Cassidy denial leaves Edmonton scrambling for a Plan B in a thin coaching market. Replacing a Cup Final coach with someone smaller is a hard sell to a locker room built to win now.
Bowman owns the next call. Get this one wrong, and the conversation in Edmonton stops being about coaching.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 11, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Martin Necas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Ross Colton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Parker Kelly | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nico Sturm | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Danila Yurov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Drury | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brock Faber | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Quinn Hughes | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nicolas Roy | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Ahcan | - | - | - | |
| Mackenzie Blackwood | - | - | - | |
| Zach Bogosian | - | - | - | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| Marcus Foligno | - | - | - | |
| Nick Foligno | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||