A surprising team is emerging for Kris Knoblauch
Kris Knoblauch isn't going anywhere yet, but the noise around the Edmonton Oilers former head coach got a lot louder Wednesday night.
Bob Stauffer floated the timeline on Oilers Now: no later than 2027-28 before Knoblauch could be coaching somewhere else. And he name-dropped one destination on purpose.
Buffalo.
That's the Sabres, the same Buffalo team that just stacked 109 points and finished fourth overall in the league this season.
Stauffer didn't say Knoblauch was hired tomorrow. He said keep an eye on it. In hockey insider language, that's not a throwaway line.
The context matters. Edmonton finished 41-30-11, slipped to 14th overall, and bowed out in the first round in six games against Anaheim. The room knows it.
Why this rumor makes no sense
Lindy Ruff is still the bench boss in Buffalo, hired back in April 2024, and he signed a contract extension for the next two years Wednesday.
Buffalo has the cap room, the young core, and a GM who isn't shy about big swings. But he made his decision with Ruff.
For the Oilers, the bigger question is what happens to a roster carrying Leon Draisaitl at $14 million and Connor McDavid at $12.5 million. That kind of cap weight doesn't allow for soft seasons.
McDavid put up 138 points in 82 games and still went minus-8 in the playoff series. Draisaitl piled up 10 points in six postseason games and the team still lost four times to Anaheim.
When the captain produces and the second star produces and the result is a first-round exit, the coach is usually the one carrying the lighter. That's exactly what happened. Stan Bowman had to do something to keep his job.
Knoblauch took over mid-season in November 2023 and dragged this group to a Cup final the year after. He's not a bad coach. he will get a chance sooner than later.
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MAY 20, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Dylan Coghlan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ross Colton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ben Hutton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Saad | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Devon Toews | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Ahcan | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| Nic Dowd | - | - | - | |
| Jack Drury | - | - | - | |
| Jack Eichel | - | - | - | |
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