The Edmonton Oilers are happy to have back a much-loved former player who not only shone on the ice during his amazing career but also nearly led them to win a championship after almost 40 years.
Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey is officially coming back to help with the team’s defense. He previously held this job from December 2023 until the last season ended. Since then, he has been a Special Advisor to Ownership and Hockey Operations.
Also, Mark Stuart will stay in his role managing Edmonton’s penalty kill, as confirmed by head coach Kris Knoblauch.
With this change, the Oilers are hoping to improve their weak defense stats. Last year, with Coffey, Edmonton had the fifth-best NHL goals-against average at 2.78. However, this season, that number has risen to 3.29 goals against, placing them 25th out of 32 NHL teams.
Paul Coffey Has Returned To The Edmonton Oilers
In a formal statement, Knoblauch mentioned that he has been in touch with Coffey regularly, even after he left the coaching staff, and that having him back will be good for the team as a whole.
“I have kept in regular contact with Paul since last summer and I think we will gain a lot as a team and as a staff from his return right now,” Knoblauch said about Coffey coming back to help the team.
“I’m really happy to come back and work with Kris and the entire team,” Coffey said. “With 24 games left this season, there’s plenty of time to build on what’s been going well and create some energy for another deep playoff run.”
Coffey is likely to come to the Oilers by the end of this week and will be coaching from the sidelines when the NHL games start up again next week.
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