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Edmonton Oilers coach Knoblauch lands multi-year deal to stay with team

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Oct 3 2025, 1:44 pm
Edmonton Oilers coach Knoblauch lands multi-year deal to stay with team
Bob Frid/Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers appear to have wrapped up at least one important piece of their long-term future.

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Oilers have inked head coach Kris Knoblauch to a long-term contract extension.

The Oilers later confirmed the deal as a three-year contract, spanning through the 2028-29 season.

Knoblauch, who was suddenly thrust into the job from the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack after the firing of Jay Woodcroft, has had a run that many coaches around the league are probably jealous of.

How has Knoblauch performed with the Oilers?

Purely from an on-ice standpoint, it’s hard to expect much more from Knoblauch in his time in Edmonton.

They’ve gone 94-47-10 in the regular season with him at the helm, while going 29-18 in the playoffs. It’s one of the best-ever starts for a first-time head coach, having made two straight Stanley Cup Final appearances.

It’d also stand to reason that the Oilers are thinking about their future with Connor McDavid, who is currently unsigned past this upcoming season. Since coming into the league in 2015, McDavid has already seen five different head coaches for the Oilers.

Given that he and Knoblauch have a long history dating back to the latter’s days as his junior hockey coach with the OHL’s Erie Otters, it’d make sense that Edmonton would try to keep arguably his most successful head coach around.

For Knoblauch, the Oilers have pretty much been a dream job. Growing up one province over in Imperial, Saskatchewan, he spent his university days in Edmonton at the University of Alberta, before taking two different coaching jobs in the WHL.

Not bad for a guy who thought he’d end up being a police officer in Edmonton.

It’s actually the second contract extension in as many days for a coach in the province of Alberta. On Thursday, the Flames announced that they’d tabbed Ryan Huska to a multi-year deal of his own.

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