Per Dreger, the Oilers are eyeing 2 big-name coaches but fans aren't impressed at all
Darren Dreger lit up the coaching market Thursday with the kind of update both Los Angeles and Edmonton needed to hear.
The TSN insider went on Barn Burner and named two veteran candidates the Kings and Oilers are eyeing. Craig Berube and Peter Laviolette.
"A closer type of coach." That's how Dreger framed what those two teams are looking for. Both clubs want experience, structure, and a head coach who can win in May.
That label fits both names. Berube has a Stanley Cup ring from his St. Louis run in 2019. Laviolette won his with Carolina in 2006 and has been to the final since.
The Oilers fired Kris Knoblauch this week. The Kings are evaluating where D.J. Smith took them in his first season, and the LA front office isn't standing still.
Stan Bowman wants a clear upgrade in Edmonton. The Bruce Cassidy situation in Vegas is the more famous storyline. Berube and Laviolette are the parallel options.
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Bowman and Holland chase the same two names with different stakes
Edmonton's window is the most urgent in the league. Connor McDavid has 2 years left on his extension. Leon Draisaitl is signed long-term. The roster lost in Round 1 to the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games.
That's the team Berube or Laviolette would inherit. The expectations don't get higher. Neither does the pressure.
LA's situation reads differently. Ken Holland's Kings finished 35-27-20 for 90 points and 20th overall, which is the kind of middle-of-the-road result that gets a coach fired in most years but might earn another summer in Los Angeles.
The 6-game home stretch the Kings ended on was a 9-27-5 home record. That's the part the front office can't accept.
Berube was just fired in Toronto this week after the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs. The timing puts him on the open market exactly when veteran teams are shopping.
Laviolette's most recent NHL run was the Rangers. He's been working broadcasts and consulting since. He told Nick Alberga yesterday his pitch for any job is "going hard, playing hard, time and space."
Both coaches have the same selling point. They've been at the podium when the Cup was hoisted. That's worth a phone call when your roster is built to win now.
The difference between Edmonton's job and LA's is the captain. McDavid's commitment to the Oilers is the question that defines every other decision in that building.
Dreger's reporting suggests both teams will land on similar names. Whoever moves first gets to choose. The slower team takes whoever is left.
The decisions land in the next 30 days. The 2026 NHL Draft and free agency don't wait.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 14, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||