NHL Rumors: Pete DeBoer Linked to Struggling Team

Friday, March 27, 2026 ,
Dallas Stars Head Coach Pete DeBoer speaks to the media following 2024 playoff elimination.

It started as a compliment. 

After Edmonton's 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, Connor McDavid called Jon Cooper's team "perfectly coached," "extremely well organized," and "very rehearsed in everything they do." 

When asked about the Oilers by comparison, McDavid said "that's a coaching question," then added they were "somewhat rehearsed and organized, but not to their level." 

Whether he meant it as a shot at Kris Knoblauch or not, the hockey world ran with it, and now with 9 games left in the regular season and Edmonton having lost four of their last six, the conversation around the Oilers' bench was getting very loud very fast. 

That should settle down now, as they've rattled off two straight wins.

McDavid has since walked the comments back, Cooper downplayed the whole thing on NHL on TNT, and Edmonton responded with a strong 5-2 road win over the Utah Mammoth and a 4-3 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights.

But the damage was done, and Pete DeBoer's name is already being mentioned in the same sentence as Edmonton.

Pete DeBoer to the Oilers?

Michael Traikos of The Hockey News made the case this week that the Oilers shouldn't wait until summer to make a move, arguing that if Edmonton management feels the status quo isn't good enough to make a deep playoff run, replacing Knoblauch with DeBoer now, before the playoffs, might be worth considering. 

It's a bold take. Coaches almost never lose their jobs this late in a season on a playoff-bound team, though it has happened. 

The Los Angeles Kings fired Jim Hiller on March 1 and handed the reins to D.J. Smith. John Tortorella was let go on March 27 last year. And most famously, the New Jersey Devils fired Robbie Ftorek with eight games left in 1999-2000 despite having the best record in the Eastern Conference, then went on to win the Stanley Cup. 

DeBoer, for his part, told The Hockey News last week he's in no rush to get back behind the bench. It has to be the right team, the right place, and the right time.

The Oilers check all three boxes, and DeBoer recently coached McDavid as an associate on Canada's Olympic staff this past winter.

The Oilers are currently sitting second in the Pacific Division with 81 points, just two ahead of the Golden Knights. 

The way it's lined up right now, the Oilers would face Vegas in the first round of the playoffs. That's not a bad scenario for them.

Kris Knoblauch's Future in Edmonton and Where DeBoer Could Land

The complicating factor, however, is that all Knoblauch has done in Edmonton is take the team to the Stanley Cup Final in each of his two seasons behind the bench. 

TSN insider Craig Button made that point loudly on the Frankly Hockey podcast this week, ripping into McDavid's comments and noting that a coach who's reached back-to-back Finals doesn't deserve to be undermined by his own captain. 

"That's on management," Button said of Edmonton's roster erosion, pointing to the departures of Broberg, Holloway, McLeod, Foegele, and others. 

Fair point. But perception matters in this league, and if the Oilers get bounced early in the playoffs for the first time under Knoblauch, GM Stan Bowman is almost certainly going to want a new voice. 

DeBoer has taken three different franchises to the conference final in six of the past eight years. He went 9-0 in Game 7s as a head coach. And after a year away from the bench, he says he's a better coach for it. 

Toronto, Los Angeles, and Utah are also in the mix as potential DeBoer destinations if things go sideways for those organizations this spring. But if Edmonton stumbles in the first round, don't be surprised if the call comes sooner than anyone expects. 

Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images 

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