When Kris Knoblauch guided the Edmonton Oilers from 31st place into a playoff spot last season, his success was largely met with a shrug. The Oilers had been underperforming before the coaching change, after all. Any fresh voice could trigger a similar turnaround, it seemed.
Then, Knoblauch got the Oilers out of a 3-2 series deficit against the Vancouver Canucks — and 2024 coach of the year Rick Tocchet — in Round 2. He got them out of a 2-1 deficit against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final. And then, he guided the Oilers from a 3-0 hole all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final — coming within a goal of delivering Canada’s first championship since 1993.
When Edmonton loped through the regular season, dealing with injuries and lineup holes, Knoblauch looked like he might be a one-hit wonder. The Oilers did log their fourth-straight 100-point season — unheard-of since the high-flying 80s with Wayne Gretzky. But they slipped to third in the Pacific Division standings, and team scoring dropped by 35 goals.
Now, we’re into Week 5 of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. Knoblauch is the winningest active regular-season coach, with a .656 points percentage, and also sits first in the playoffs among active coaches, at .639.
The way they dismantled the Los Angeles Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights, the Oilers may have positioned themselves as the team to beat.
First off, the offense is back. With 11 games played, Edmonton leads the playoffs with 43 goals, an average of 3.91 goals a game.
That doesn’t feel especially surprising. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl know how to raise their games in the post-season and they’re leading the way again — McDavid has 17 points and Draisaitl is at 16. This year, Edmonton is also getting more secondary scoring from across the lineup, whether that’s five goals from ageless Corey Perry or a clutch overtime winner from waiver pickup Kasperi Kapanen, sealing the series against Vegas in just his second playoff game of the year.
Roster depth is important in a long playoff run, but it’s not easy for coaches to know when to make changes and how to deploy players as they come into a series. Two years in a row, Knoblauch has accomplished the near-impossible by spelling off Stuart Skinner until he could find his ‘A’ game again in net. As well as Kapanen, Knoblauch has also gotten some quality minutes from Troy Stecher on the blueline in the last two games, swapping him in for Ty Emberson.
Knoblauch is a straight shooter when informing players of lineup changes.
“You have to be honest with them,” he said, per NHL.com. “Maybe you get away with it once tricking them or whatever, but the next time, it’s all downhill after that. They want the truth. They don’t necessarily want to hear it, but they don’t necessarily want the alternative. I think it’s important you just tell them the truth (as to) where things are and what you’re thinking about.”
This year’s Oilers also haven’t been as reliant on their power play. That’s a good thing, because it doesn’t get to work as often. They’re down from three opportunities a game in 2024 to just 2.18 so far this year, resulting in six man-advantage goals on 24 tries.
And while Evan Bouchard’s high-risk, high-reward style is known for delivering dramatic lows and highs for fans, a pair of shutouts to eliminate a Vegas team that was fifth in scoring in the regular season speaks volumes about this group’s commitment to team defense.
After coming so close to winning the Cup last year, Leon Draisaitl told Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that winning the Selke Trophy would be “almost more important than any other trophy at this point in time” — even the Hart.
At this point, Connor McDavid has no time for any reporter who still has doubts about his team’s ability to defend.
“I mean, how many times are we going to answer this question?” he bristled after Edmonton’s Game 5 win. “We can defend. We can … Whatever it takes, we can win games.”
Last playoffs, the Oilers sat in the middle of the pack with an expected goals share of 49.34 percent at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. In 2025, that number has spiked to an impressive 58.08 percent — higher than any other team that’s still alive.
Going into Round 2, McDavid was confident that his group could avenge its 2023 playoff loss to the Golden Knights. Edmonton took care of business handily.
The Oilers’ complete game — and the players’ confidence in their system — forms the kind of foundation that brings championships. Knoblauch has built that in less than two years by preparing for all possibilities, then executing with grace when the waters get rocky.
“Even when situations get tough, he stays pretty calm,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said, who has seen some things in his 14 seasons as an Oiler. “Obviously, sometimes he can do the other side of it … but his presence and his calmness helps when things aren’t going well. That’s one of the big things for him.”
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