EDMONTON - A shakeup behind Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch had the NHL club changing goalie coaches and Hall of Fame defenceman Paul Coffey shifting from behind the bench to an upstairs adviser role.
Paul McFarland came on board as a power-play specialist after Glen Gulutzan’s departure to become head coach of the Dallas Stars, Peter Aubry replaced Dustin Schwartz as goalie coach and Connor Allen will serve in a skills development role.
The club stated Monday that Coffey returns to his role as a special adviser to ownership and hockey operations after a more hands-on role as an assistant coach in charge of defencemen.
Assistant coach Mark Stuart’s contract was extended to continue as penalty kill specialist, while Stuart also assumed responsibility of the defencemen.
Knoblauch inherited Coffey, Schwartz and Stuart as assistants when he took over for Jay Woodcroft as head coach of the Oilers on Nov. 12, 2023. Coffey, a four-time Stanley Cup champion, replaced Oilers assistant Dave Manson when Knoblauch was hired.
The Oilers have since reached the Stanley Cup final in back-to-back years. Edmonton fell to the Florida Panthers in six games this year and in seven games in 2024.
“First of all, we’ll talk about Paul. Very fortunate to be working with him for the two years,” Knoblauch said Monday on a virtual media conference call. “I was happy to be working with him in that first year and we weren’t sure if he was coming back for the second year, but luckily for us, he did decide to come back.
“Throughout the year, we have a lot of conversations, we added a lot to the coaching staff and then got to the point where you’re not sure when he was going to step back and just have another role within the organization or what he was doing before. You got to that point where that the change was going to happen.
“We’ll still have conversations with Paul and Paul will still give us his insight on how the team’s playing, what we could be doing, which will be a great benefit for our coaching staff, especially with so many new guys coming in.”
Knoblauch, who has a year remaining on his contract, will have two assistants on the bench with him next season instead of three.
Led by Leon Draisaitl, whose 399 career power-play goals ranks fifth among active NHL players, Edmonton boasted the league’s top power play for several years until a drop-off this past season.Â
McFarland was head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen after three years as a Seattle Kraken assistant from the team’s expansion year in 2021 to 2024. The 39-year-old was also previously an assistant with the Florida Panthers and ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Maple Leafs.
“He’s been running an NHL power play for many years, started in Florida, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, and then Seattle,” Knoblauch stated. “Power-play success is determined a lot with the personnel that you have. He’s done a heck of a job on getting the most out of the personalities he’s had, but also very strong is the success that he had with those good power plays in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and Florida.
“He’ll be able to bring that over and be able to have a good strong working relationship with the players that we have on our team right now.”
Edmonton’s penalty kill, integral to reaching the Cup final in 2024, was mediocre in 2025.
“During the playoffs, it was underperforming, so this conversation about changing things up has been ongoing for many, many months and there will be changes to our system,” Knoblauch said.
Edmonton’s goaltending ran hot and cold in the playoffs. Stuart Skinner started 15 of 24 post-season games this year, but Calvin Pickard was in net for six in a row and nine overall.
Schwartz was Edmonton’s goalie coach for over a decade, but the Oilers aim for more consistency under 48-year-old Aubry, who was an associate coach at Nebraska-Omaha (NCAA) for two seasons.
He also spent eight seasons (2015-16 to 2023-24) as the Chicago Blackhawks’ developmental goaltending coach as well as the goaltending coach for the team’s AHL affiliate in Rockford.
“It was a very, very difficult decision to make that change, but in the organization, we’re always looking at ways that we can get better,” Knoblauch explained.Â
“We’re looking for ways to push our goaltenders and make them better. There’s times where they’re exceptional. There’s other times where we were wanting a little bit more from them. With Peter, he’ll be able to push those guys and bring a different perspective and hopefully, elevate them to get those guys to play at their best more often.”
Allen, 35, spent last season with the United States’ under-17 team and recently worked in skill development with the Sioux City Musketeers. The Oilers also confirmed a contract extension for video coach Noah Segall.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2025.
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