Oilers fire coach Jay Woodcroft, hire AHL's Kris Knoblauch

The Edmonton Oilers have fired coach Jay Woodcroft amid a 3-9-1 start to the season, the team announced Sunday.

Along with Woodcroft, assistant Dave Manson is also out in Edmonton. The Oilers said Kris Knoblauch, the coach of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, will be the new coach in Edmonton, with Hall of Famer and former Oilers defenseman Paul Coffey joining the staff as an assistant.

Entering the season with Stanley Cup hopes, Edmonton lost to the worst team in the NHL, the San Jose Sharks, on Thursday night before picking up a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. The Oilers have the second-fewest points in the league standings (seven).

Woodcroft led the Oilers to a 50-23-9 record (109 points) last season featuring the top-scoring offense in the league (325 goals). Edmonton lost in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. 

Despite a loaded offense, the Oilers are 26th in scoring this season. After leading the league in goals last season with 64, star centerman  Connor McDavid has just two. Leon Draisaitl had 52 in 2022-23 and has five this season, with just one in the past 10 games.

In the McDavid era, the Oilers have struggled to find defense and goaltending to match their offense. Last season, they were 17th in the league in goals against as Stuart Skinner emerged as a possible goalie of the future. He and Jack Campbell were supposed to provide a 1-2 punch that could take them deep into the playoffs, but Campbell, who was making $5 million per year, was put on waivers last week.

The New York Rangers, the parent club of the Hartford Wolf Pack, will name Steve Smith the team's interim coach, sources told ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.