It's been a tough 48 hours since the Oilers last game seven in the Stanley Cup finals, and head coach Kris Knoblauch took to the podium on locker media availability day expressing his hope that his assistant coaches would return next season.
It's been a wild season for knoblock as he began with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL for the New York Rangers. After the Oilers fired Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson, knoblock was hired immediately and the organizations selected his assistant coaches in Oilers legendary defenseman Paul Coffey and Glen Gulutzan.
I come into this, and I had no say whatsoever on who the staff was gonna be . . . I don't think I would have been able to get a staff as qualified and capable as the one I have here. I don't know what we are doing moving forward, I assume everyone's coming back. I would like everyone to come back.
Their impact was felt immediately, and the team skyrocketed through December and January and put themselves back in a playoff spot and nipping at the heels of the Canucks for first place in the Pacific.
There is a sense though that the team will not look the same going into next year as they have 12 restricted and unrestricted free agents and several key decisions to make including new contracts for Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl.
But overall, the coaching staff did well and it's expected that they will return for another season no matter who's running the team.
