Oilers coach declares major changes coming after Olympic break

After losing three games in a row, the Edmonton Oilers talked a lot about how they need to get better, starting from everyone in the team.

Coach hints at changes coming

“Whether that means new players, we have to shake things up. . . We’re not going to make huge changes, but during the Olympic break, it’s something we have to think about. . . maybe we’ve gotten a bit too sure of ourselves about scoring every chance and it’s hurting us.”

– Coach Knoblauch

 

Oilers Coach Knoblauch says the team hasn’t played well defensively all year and he will be making changes after the break.#LetsGoOilers #YEG #NHL #Hockey #Oilers

📹 @EdmontonOilers pic.twitter.com/qcSyDiXDZV

— Bleed Oil Blue (@BleedOilBlue) February 2, 2026

Scoring is really the Oilers’ strength. But their poor defense and shaky goaltending have caused big problems lately, and Draisaitl sees it too.
“We’re not consistent enough, and this league is too tough to just mess around and expect to win games,” Draisaitl said after last night’s loss. “Everyone needs to be involved. It starts with the coaches, everyone needs to step up.”

The Oilers have had a hard time winning multiple games in a row, only achieving it once this year. It’s clear that their current strategy isn’t working well, but the head coach hasn’t really tackled this issue.

Too many times this season, Knoblauch has depended on the top two lines for scoring, making the other lines sit for a lot of the game, which was the case again last night.

“You can’t win if only four or five players are contributing,” Draisaitl said. “It starts with the leaders. We can improve, our leaders can do better, and we’ll use the break to come back stronger. ”

It’s rare to see Draisaitl being so direct with his words, but when he needs to, he speaks up.

Last night, the Oilers’ head coach tried mixing up his lines to create some energy, like moving Nuge to the third center for a bit, but he ended up going back to his usual setup.

This meant the same top players were on the ice for about 25 minutes, while the others barely got any time to play.