Like with his predecessor Ken Holland, Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman isn’t used to firing coaches. Prior to this month, he had only done so once. In 2018, as the GM in Chicago, he swapped out Joel Quenneville for Jeremy Colliton. (Colliton wouldn’t be dismissed until 11 days after Bowman’s Chicago tenure ended.) Holland had had a similar story—prior to 2021–22, he never outright fired a head coach.
Evidently, when you’re running a franchise with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard, stakes are higher. They’re as high as the Stantec Tower when the former of those three has just two years left on his contract. Hence, Kenny Money was forced to fire both Dave Tippett and Jay Woodcroft, and Bowman did likewise with Kris Knoblauch.
But following Knoblauch’s dismissal last week, it leaves an interesting question to answer. Who should be the next person to coach the Edmonton Oilers? Coaching styles vary by person—some are more encouraging of high-octane offence, like Woodcroft was. Others can be quite hard-nosed, and drive a defence-first mentality.
We here at The Oil Rig have written several articles on the matter. So now, it’s time to hear from you, the fans of Oil Country. Who do you want to be the next person to attempt to lead this team to the Stanley Cup?
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Bruce, there it is: Cassidy is the overwhelming favourite
If this were an election, the decision would have been clear in pretty much any nation, region, or city. Bruce Cassidy, the 2023 Stanley Cup champion, wins by a landslide. Cassidy got pink-slipped by the Vegas Golden Knights eight games before the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And while it seems to be working for VGK, all things considered, it didn’t seem fully deserved.
Cassidy, Oilers fans will remember, tactically out-maneuvered Woodcroft in those 2023 playoffs. He also oversaw a matchup last year that was closer than the five-game end result suggested. If not for Stuart Skinner randomly activating Martin Brodeur mode, that series goes six or seven (meme not intended) games for sure.
Going back even further, Cassidy got the Boston Bruins to their only Cup Final in the David Pastrňák era. He gets results wherever he is, and with talented lineups to boot. He seems like the most natural fit for an Oilers team loaded with top-end talent, trying to win it all.
Some yearning to go back to the future after the Anaheim series
The other coach to get votes in this survey was none other than Woodcroft himself. In hindsight, Woodcroft did well for himself as Oilers head coach. It was hard to say the Oilers should have won the 2022 or 2023 Cups when you look back at how stacked Colorado and Vegas, respectively, were those seasons.
Rarely does a coach get two separate bench-boss stints with the same team. Nothing so far has suggested Woodcroft is about to buck that trend. But there are reasons he could, starting with the fact a new GM is in place. Said new GM has built the team better than the prior did—at least, outside of the crease.
Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek, in throwing shade VGK’s way, stated he would not block Woodcroft from pursuing a head-coaching role. That has been a major snag in the Cassidy sweepstakes, is the Golden Knights’ distasteful gamesmanship. Perhaps the path of least resistance would work just as well. Let’s go back to the future—who’s got a DeLorean handy?
The other big-name coaches aren’t as appealing right now
Not a single vote went for the other two men listed, Craig Berube and Peter Laviolette. Both also have Cups, albeit from prior decades. Both have gotten multiple teams to the playoffs, and regular season success. Berube, as a bonus, has been rumoured as a “Plan B” option for the Oilers should Cassidy fall through their fingers.
But after seeing their most recent stays in Toronto and New York, respectively, either would be a major gamble. Both Berube and Laviolette got immediate top-of-the-league results and won playoff rounds. But after those stellar single campaigns, their teams collapsed the next season. The Oilers would basically be hoping to catch lightning in a bottle by hiring either.
They’re brand-name coaches, that’s for sure, and as mentioned, they’ve both won Cups. But that risk is a massive one, not just for how 2026–27 would go, but for McDavid’s impending long-term decision. Hiring the wrong coach here could potentially push him out the door, and absolutely nobody wants that. So maybe it’s best to not settle for fallback options in this scenario.
Write-in ballot: What about an outside-the-box hire?
Fellow writer Breanna Romain pitched a very intriguing idea recently: what about somebody who’s not recycled? Sure, the more well-connected analysts are all indicating prior head-coaching experience will be required. And it might well be for the better in this current scenario, but…
Jessica Campbell didn’t earn a spot behind the Seattle Kraken bench for nothing. And sure, the Kraken have had a dearth of goal-scoring. But they’ve had that issue throughout their franchise’s young history, which suggests poor roster construction is more to blame. It’s why Ron Francis just stepped down after helming the Kraken for their first five seasons.
More positively is that, when with Coachella Valley in the AHL, Campbell helped turn Ryker Evans and Tye Kartye, among others, into NHL-ready talents. Edmonton, inevitably, is going to have to open the door to more Bakersfield Condors graduating to the NHL. And the only one from this season who did so successfully was Matt Savoie. It is an area the Oilers must get better at, without question.
This observer concurs with Breanna—in some capacity, Campbell should be hired. Maybe it’s just as an assistant to the next head coach, or maybe she goes back to California and helps the Condors. Or maybe, you make her the head coach outright, and trust a new-age way of thinking.
Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire
