Kris Knoblauch (born September 24, 1978) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who most recently was the head coach for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He had previously been the head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).
He had a total of 13 seasons of coaching experience before joining Hartford, including two seasons as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and seven years as a head coach in the Canadian junior leagues. He compiled a record of 298–130–16–13 during that time. Knoblauch coached the Oilers to appearances in the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025.
Playing career Knoblauch is from Imperial, Saskatchewan. He was a seventh-round pick, 166th overall, of the New York Islanders in the 1997 NHL entry draft, but never played at the NHL level. Playing in the position of winger, Knoblauch played parts of four seasons of junior hockey in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1995 to 1998 with the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton Ice and Lethbridge Hurricanes. He then played for five seasons with the University of Alberta Golden Bears from 1999 to 2003, during which time he registered 117 points (38 goals and 79 assists) in 102 games. He was part of the team that won a National Championship during the 1999–00 season. Knoblauch played professionally with the Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League, before finishing his playing career in France as a member of the Bisons de Neuilly-sur-Marne.
Coaching career Knoblauch began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL during the 2006–07 season. He became an assistant coach with the Kootenay Ice of the WHL for three seasons from 2007 to 2010, becoming the Ice's head coach in 2010.
Kootenay Ice In his first season with Kootenay during the 2010–11 season, the team posted a 46–21–1–4 record in the regular season, won 16 of 19 WHL playoff games and won the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Knoblauch continued his success with the Ice the following season, as the team posted a 36–26–5 record, but was swept by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round of the WHL playoffs.
Knoblauch interviewed for the vacant head coaching position with the University of Alberta Golden Bears men's ice hockey team and did so without consulting the Ice. Despite being on the Golden Bears coaching job shortlist, Knoblauch was relieved of his head coaching duties with the Ice on May 24, 2012.
Erie Otters Knoblauch became the head coach of the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), a position he held from 2012 to 2017.
During his four full seasons with the Erie Otters, the team had a 204–58–7–3 record (.768 points percentage) and won at least 50 games each season. They were the first team in Canadian Hockey League history to post four consecutive 50-win seasons. Under Knoblauch's leadership, Erie won the OHL Championship in the 2016–17 season. Additionally, the Otters made it to the OHL Championship in the 2014–15 season and won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy in recognition of having the OHL's best regular season record in consecutive seasons in 2015–16 and 2016–17. Knoblauch was the recipient of the Matt Leyden Trophy in 2015–16, making him OHL Coach of the Year that season. He also made OHL's Second All-Star Team in 2013–14.
Knoblauch was the head coach for Canada-Red at the 2015 World U17 Hockey Challenge and assistant coach with Canada at the 2017 IIHF World U20 Championship, where Canada earned a silver medal. During his seven total seasons as head coach of the Kootenay Ice and Erie Otters, Knoblauch compiled a record of 298–130–16–13, and coached such players as Connor McDavid, Alex DeBrincat, André Burakovsky, Connor Brown, Erik Černák, Anthony Cirelli, Travis Dermott, Sam Reinhart and Dylan Strome.
Philadelphia Flyers Knoblauch was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons.
Hartford Wolf Pack The New York Rangers organization announced on July 29, 2019, that Knoblauch had been appointed the head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers' AHL affiliate team. This marked the first time Knoblauch became a head coach at the professional level. Knoblauch replaced Keith McCambridge, fired after two seasons as Hartford coach. Knoblauch was the seventh coach in Wolf Pack history. On March 17, 2021, Knoblauch served as the New York Rangers' head coach when David Quinn and his staff were placed on the COVID-19 protocol list. In Knoblauch's first game as head coach, the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 9–0 at Madison Square Garden. Quinn was out for six games total, the Rangers won four games and lost two under Knoblauch.
Edmonton Oilers On November 12, 2023, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they had hired Knoblauch as their head coach to replace the recently fired Jay Woodcroft. In his first year as Oilers head coach, Knoblauch led the team to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. After rallying back from a 3–0 series deficit, the Oilers were ultimately defeated in the pivotal seventh game.
General manager Ken Holland left at the expiration of his contract and was replaced in that capacity by Stan Bowman. Nonetheless, Knoblauch's second season was just as successful, leading the Oilers to the 2025 Stanley Cup Final—the Oilers' first back-to-back appearances in 40 years, in a rematch against the Panthers. This series saw the Oilers have home-ice advantage for the majority of their games, but they would again experience defeat at the hands of the Panthers, this time in six games.
On October 3, 2025, the Oilers announced they had agreed to a three-year extension with Knoblauch, keeping him under contract until the end of the 2028–29 NHL season. However, at the conclusion of the season, Knoblauch was fired after losing to the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs. His release garnered mixed reactions from local news outlets; some found the move poorly handled while others believed the firing was necessary.
Career statistics
Playing career Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1995–96 Red Deer Rebels WHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1996–97 Red Deer Rebels WHL 43 4 14 18 29 — — — — — 1996–97 Edmonton Ice WHL 24 7 7 14 73 — — — — — 1997–98 Edmonton Ice WHL 72 18 23 41 193 — — — — — 1998–99 Kootenay Ice WHL 21 7 3 10 36 — — — — — 1998–99 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 52 20 22 42 102 4 1 3 4 6 1998–99 Asheville Smoke UHL — — — — — 4 0 0 0 5 1999–2000 Alberta Golden Bears CWUAA 47 25 26 51 30 — — — — — 2000–01 Alberta Golden Bears CWUAA 42 31 34 65 12 — — — — — 2001–02 Alberta Golden Bears CWUAA 35 13 30 43 12 — — — — — 2002–03 Alberta Golden Bears CWUAA 31 11 24 35 22 — — — — — 2003–04 Alberta Golden Bears CWUAA 36 14 25 39 32 — — — — — 2004–05 Austin Ice Bats CHL 60 18 22 40 76 — — — — — 2005–06 Bisons de Neuilly-sur-Marne Division 1 28 29 17 46 24 — — — — —
Head coaching record
NHL Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L OTL Pts Finish W L Win % Result EDM 2023–24* 69 46 18 5 (97) 2nd in Pacific 15 10 Lost in Stanley Cup Final (FLA) EDM 2024–25 82 48 29 5 101 3rd in Pacific 14 8 Lost in Stanley Cup Final (FLA) EDM 2025–26 82 41 30 11 93 2nd in Pacific 2 4 Lost in first round (ANA)Total 233 135 77 21 31 22 3 playoff appearances * – Mid-season replacement
Other leagues Team Year League Regular season Postseason G W L OTL Pts Finish Result KOO 2010–11 WHL 72 46 21 5 97 3rd in Central Won Ed Chynoweth Cup (POR) KOO 2011–12 WHL 72 36 26 10 82 4th in Central Lost in first round (EDM) ERI 2012–13 OHL 29 12 25 4 28 5th in Midwest Did not qualify ERI 2013–14 OHL 68 52 14 2 106 2nd in Midwest Lost in third round (GUE) ERI 2014–15 OHL 68 50 14 4 104 1st in Midwest Lost in J. Ross Robertson Cup Finals (OSH) ERI 2015–16 OHL 68 52 15 1 105 1st in Midwest Lost in third round (LDN) ERI 2016–17 OHL 68 50 15 3 103 1st in Midwest Won J. Ross Robertson Cup (MSA) HFD 2019–20 AHL 62 31 20 11 73 4th in Atlantic Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic HFD 2020–21 AHL 24 14 9 1 29 2nd in Atlantic No playoffs due to COVID-19 pandemic HFD 2021–22 AHL 72 32 32 8 72 7th in Atlantic Missed playoffs HFD 2022–23 AHL 72 35 26 11 81 5th in Atlantic Lost in third round (HER)WHL total 144 82 47 15 179 2 playoffs appearancesOHL total 301 216 83 14 446 4 playoffs appearancesAHL total 230 112 87 31 255 1 playoff appearance
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