Edmonton Oilers coaching search: Top 5 candidates, starting with Bruce Cassidy

The Edmonton Oilers have employed 18 coaches in the 46 seasons the team has played in the NHL. Five of those men have coached during the Connor McDavid era, 2015-16 through 2025-26. Previous to McDavid’s arrival, the average head coach was in the position for almost three years. Since 2015, the average is two seasons. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, the fifth GM since McDavid arrived (there were eight over 35 seasons before 2015), is currently beginning the process of hiring the team’s 19th coach. The names mentioned by local media so far range from retired former coaches (Mike Babcock) to men who have never coached in the league (Denver Pioneers coach David Carle). For an Oilers fan who just wants to see his team win the Stanley Cup, it can be frustrating. Here’s a look at the five best candidates for the job, and why they should be the top options. The Oilers got a firsthand look at Bruce Cassidy’s skills during the 2023 playoffs. He was the coach of the Vegas Golden Knights and gave a clinic on gaining an edge against Edmonton. Cassidy’s in-game adjustments allowed the Golden Knights to get past the Oilers on the way to the Stanley Cup. Cassidy’s key innovation was finding ways for Jack Eichel to avoid tight checking by resetting lines on the fly. Eichel flourished in the series (seven even-strength points to McDavid’s four). Cassidy deployed a deadly shutdown line (led by William Karlsson) that had the answers in the big moments in the series. Cassidy gave a large chunk of minutes to a tough fourth line (Nicolas Roy with William Carrier and Keegan Kolesar) that gave Edmonton’s defencemen fits. The goaltending switch from Laurent Brossoit to Adin Hill came via injury but worked perfectly. Cassidy’s roster construction, strong outlets and entries, plus overall attention to detail, appear to be a perfect fit for Edmonton. The man Cassidy schooled in that 2023 playoff showdown was Jay Woodcroft. Now an assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks, time has revealed Woodcroft drew the best of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl offensively. In the 2022-23 season, Woodcroft’s only complete year as Oilers coach, the club scored 325 goals. That number was the highest since 1988-89. The team hasn’t been the same offensively since Woodcroft left. Woodcroft increased the team’s talent base by recalling players from the AHL Bakersfield Condors. Some, like Philip Broberg, were high draft picks with a clear path to the NHL. Others, like Vincent Desharnais, had a more obscure skill set that Woodcroft recognized from his time coaching the Condors before being elevated to Edmonton. Woodcroft’s breakouts and entries were refreshing; he used speedsters like Ryan McLeod to gain entry easily. He line-matched (although not successfully against Cassidy, but he’s more experienced now) and increased the talent pool by using players with flaws in situations that allowed them to shine. Desharnais is an example, as was Klim Kostin, who thrived in Woodcroft’s system. All manner of player-type spiked under Woodcroft, and the team soared because of it. He might benefit from a veteran assistant coach (Glen Gulutzan was part of the 2022-23 staff), and Paul Coffey’s defence whispering also wouldn’t go amiss. Woodcroft’s hiring might raise some eyebrows, but he helped the Oilers’ best players deliver their best career performances. He would be an astute hire. The Oilers and Peter Laviolette are a good fit because both have a “we’re here for a good time, not a long time” approach to the coaching position. Both are interested in winning the Stanley Cup next spring. Laviolette was first hired as an NHL head coach by the New York Islanders in 2001, and he’s a Stanley Cup winner (Carolina Hurricanes, 2006), looking to bookend an outstanding career. His teams play at a high pace, and he has a sense of urgency that makes him effective in the short term and tiresome in the long term for the players he coaches. He took the New York Rangers deep into the postseason in the spring of 2024 and should be considered the strongest of the available veterans. He’s adaptable, determined, and his teams are prepared. As Peter Baugh described for The Athletic in the spring of 2025, Laviolette’s team regressed mightily the season after making it to the third round of the playoffs. That kind of high-to-low regression may mean his window to win could be a match for the McDavid-led Oilers. Craig Berube fits this coaching tier as well, but Laviolette is a more imaginative coach. The Rochester Americans have been graduating players to the parent Buffalo Sabres at an impressive rate over the last two seasons. The Americans are a young, inexperienced group that badly needed direction and playing time. Head coach Mike Leone was a perfect fit and aided multiple pro prospects, notably Noah Östlund and Konsta Helenius. Both flourished at the AHL level and made it to the NHL this season. He’s a coach known for developing young players, something the Oilers will need badly in the years to come as aging veterans play out their no-movement contracts on the depth lines. Although the club doesn’t have a group of players pushing from the AHL level with high draft pedigrees, it’s vital that Edmonton sees results from players like Damien Carfagna, Quinn Hutson and Owen Michaels as soon as this fall. Bakersfield coach Colin Chaulk and Providence Bruins coach Ryan Mougenel also fall into this category, but Leone has the edge in developing players quickly. He could be a similar hire to Woodcroft when he took over the Oilers. An absolute outlier candidate, Craig MacTavish hasn’t coached in a generation. However, the Oilers’ needs (strong, disciplined play and five-on-five outscoring) are a perfect match for what MacTavish did well as Oilers coach in the first decade of this century. It’s admittedly a stretch, and MacTavish might be a better fit in an assistant role to a younger coach (perhaps Todd Nelson, who MacTavish hired as Oilers coach in 2014-15 when he was general manager of the team). If MacTavish, 67, has lost any passion for the game, it’s not in evidence in his television segments on Sportsnet broadcasts of Oilers games. He has a rapier wit and an exceptional comprehension of the game. MacTavish’s precise knowledge of the game and his ability to teach could help players and coaches on the team. The play here is for Bowman to go hard and win the race to secure Cassidy as Edmonton’s 19th head coach. The only strong checkdown option is Woodcroft. After that, the team will have to decide between a short-term “damn the torpedoes” option (Laviolette), a coaching star on the rise with exceptional development credentials (Leone) or a throwback whose strengths were an exact match for this team’s needs. Bowman is under the gun. This is his first coaching hire, and with the McDavid contract just two years long, he may not get the chance to hire a second one. He needs to make it count.