Not to put too fine a point on it, but the notion to fire Kris Knoblauch borders on ridiculous.

Bringing in a sixth coach in the last 11 years screams desperation. Bringing in a new coach before the old coach’s three-year contract extension even begins reeks of instability.

But it’s been the Oiler way.

According to the pink slips, blame for not turning 11 years worth of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl into a champion falls on the coaches.

It was Todd McLellan’s fault. Then it was Ken Hitchcock’s fault. Then it was Dave Tippett’s fault. Then it was Jay Woodcroft’s fault.

And now it’s Kris Knoblauch’s fault? To close the book on the guy who got Edmonton to two Stanley Cup Finals in a row because of one sub-par year — when a burned out team had all four of its centres injured — is Decade of Darkness stuff.

The Oilers should be beyond that. Cutting Knoblauch loose, wasting the experience he gained this season, is nuts.

Players need to take some blame

The underlying issues right from the start of the 97/29 era have been roster construction, salary cap management, asset management and draft picks. That’s not a coaching problem.

And at what point does the finger of blame get pointed at the leadership core? The last thing a player wants to be known as is a ‘coach killer’ but six different bench bosses in 11 years would absolutely move Edmonton’s core guys into that category.

Bouch bomb

Personally? I think Evan Bouchard should have been nominated for the Norris Trophy on the strength of 95 points and the ability to deliver in big moments, but I don’t see it as any miscarriage of justice that he wasn’t.

It’s curious how some of the people so horrified that Bouchard isn’t among the three finalists are also saying he isn’t No. 1 on their ballot.

How does that work? It’s reasonable to not vote him No.1 because he has holes in his game and another defenceman is more complete, but if you don’t vote him 2 or 3 because he has holes in his game and other defencemen are more complete, it’s an egregious affront?

The math doesn’t add up. If you’re allowed to factor the complete picture into his not being No.1, you’re allowed factor it into his not being 2 or 3.

Don’t shoot the messengers

Again, I think Bouchard should be in the mix, he is a brilliant passer, shooter and power play quarterback and his good far outweighs the bad — but I’m not going to cast aspersions on anyone who disagrees with me.

When this large a cross-section of hockey people (around 200) come to a conclusion, you can’t dismiss it as not knowing what they’re talking about. These are the same people who vote on the Hart Trophy and in 10 of the last 12 years their winner was the same as the Ted Lindsay Award, which is voted on by the players.

In 2018 the writers had Taylor Hall, the players had McDavid and in 2025 the writers had Connor Hellebuyck and the players had Nikita Kucherov.

Oil over again

This is not a unique situation, by the way. It’s the second time in the last six years that a player led the league in scoring by a defenceman and didn’t get a Norris nomination.

That one was an Oiler, too. In 2020-21, Tyson Barrie became the first player in the 67-year history of the Norris to lead all blue liners in points (finishing ahead of Adam Fox, Victor Hedman, Kris Letang, John Carlson and Cale Makar) and not receive a single vote.

It’s the McDavid-Draisaitl factor. The perception, and there is some obvious truth to it, is that being out there with McDavid and/or Draisaitl, is going to inflate your numbers. Ask Zach Hyman.

If Zack Werenski or Rasmus Dahlin played for Edmonton and Bouchard played for Columbus or Buffalo, whose numbers would go up and whose would go down?

Van damn

Let’s start by saying nobody in Edmonton will ever have the right to pass judgement on an NHL draft lottery. This city has been spoiled beyond belief on that front, winning four times in six years (Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov and McDavid).

But, while nobody loves seeing Toronto get the first pick, a selection that will immediately be referred to as 1A by the Maple Leafs media, it’s great to see Vancouver lose.

Finishing dead last in the NHL by a country mile (58 points with a minus-100 goal differential) and not getting either of the top two picks is poetic justice for that organization.

Bad money

Going into this season the Oilers are looking at seven years at $7 million a year for third-pairing defenceman Jake Walman, two more years at $5.3 million a year for backup goalie Tristan Jarry and seven more years at $3.8 million a year for playoff healthy scratch Trent Frederic.

This isn’t why McDavid took that home town discount.

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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