In the Edmonton Oilers’ 6–3 win over the Arizona Coyotes, Kris Knoblauch reached the 30-win mark as a rookie NHL head coach. All it took him was 30 games as the Oilers have a 30–9–0 record with him behind the bench.
Knoblauch’s successful start to an NHL coaching career
Knoblauch had previous head coaching experience in the WHL and OHL, with the Kootenay Ice and Erie Otters, respectively—the latter of which included coaching Connor McDavid in his OHL days. He then joined the Philadelphia Flyers in 2017–18 and 2018–19 as their assistant coach. Finally, he was the head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack in the from the 2019–20 season all the way through until he was essentially poached from the team to join the Edmonton Oilers. In the AHL, Knoblauch posted a head coach record of 112–87–31 with the Wolf Pack.
Now one game shy from the 40-game mark of his NHL head coach career, he’s already reached 30 wins.
Edmonton Oilers coaching history
Knoblauch becomes the 12th head coach in franchise history to reach the 30-win mark. He’ll look to pass Kevin Lowe in short order as Lowe had a 32–26–16–6 record as Oilers head coach. Knoblauch can also pass Dallas Eakins (36–63–14) before the trade deadline if the Oilers win seven more in that span.
Therefore, it’s well within reason that Knoblauch will finish his first campaign at least 10th overall among all Edmonton head coaches in wins.
However, Knoblauch could end the season a lot closer to ninth overall than many would have expected him to finish that if the Oilers continue their play. Barring unexpected events, he’ll finish his first season with 69 (nice) games under his belt as Jay Woodcroft was fired after the Oilers’ 13th game when the Oilers were 3–9–1.
The ninth place coach is Tom Renney, whose 57–85–22 record is not out of reach for Knoblauch this season. That said, a 30–9–0 record is a winning clip of .769. Over 69 games, that equates to 53 wins. So in theory, the Oilers could potentially reach 57, but they’d have to play even better than their 30–9–0 record.
Knoblauch’s coaching record is stellar
Realistically, Knoblauch should finish the regular season somewhere in the high 40s or low 50s in terms of overall wins, which is definitely Jack Adams Award calibre any way you look at it.
