The Edmonton Oilers have undergone plenty of organizational changes this offseason from multiple hires and a restructuring of their front office to big changes behind the bench.
The most obvious being that Stan Bowman and the Oilers' brass fired former head coach Kris Knoblauch and then opted to hire the controversial Mike Babcock to replace him. The club then brought in known Babcock disciple in DJ Smith to serve as an assistant coach on Babcock's staff.
The club also made it known they will not be bringing back assistant coach Paul Coffey once again after he was brought back mid-season in 2025-26 after the Olympic break. He helped to steer the ship and save the Oilers from missing out on the postseason altogether. The team will also retain Paul McFarlad who joined the staff last season.
In addition to these changes, the Oilers announced on Thursday that they will be adding another person into the mix to aid the coaching staff as a coaching consultant, Misha Donskov. Donskov is set to join the bench "for a select number of days at home each month,". He will also continue in his role with Hockey Canada.
Donskov brings plenty of experience
The 49 year old joins the Oilers with a wealth of experience and after some considered him a great candidate to become the next Oilers coach before the team hired Babcock.
He has worked as a coach and manager at a variety of levels in the hockey world and currently holds the title of Vice President of Hockey Operations and National Men's Teams Coach. He has previously worked with Canada's national team at the juniors and men's level as an associate coach, assistant coach, video coach, and manager of hockey operations, overseeing the analytics and video department.
He has also spent time in the NHL with the Vegas Golden Knights as their manager of hockey operations and assistant coach, being behind the bench when they won the Stanley Cup in 2023. Most recently, he was an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars from 2023 to 2025.
His resume boasts experience with analytics and video and emphasizes his work in player development given his roles at the Junior hockey ranks and his work with his own company; Donskov Hockey Development.
The addition of Donskov seems to further drive home the Oilers commitment to embracing analytics and a progressive push for the club. It also provides them with a potential fallback option should they need to pivot.
Donskov is a great fallback option for head coach
Although the Oilers are no doubt committed to Mike Babcock, there are concerns given his history and the sheer number of stories that have come out from former players. Everybody deserves a second chance but there is always the possibility that things do not work, especially with the tension surrounding the contract for captain Connor McDavid.
If the Oilers fail this season, it is very possible that the McDavid era will be over in Edmonton. However, the team seems to be doing whatever possible to prevent that from happening given their willingness to embrace new concepts and to put more emphasis on areas of evaluation.
The Donskov hire is like a cherry on top for this push in that direction and it seems possible that should things go wrong this season or in the future, that the Oilers could have their next head coach in house already with this hire. At worst, you have a respected and experienced hockey mind work in the organization but you may also have your next bench boss if necessary.
For that reason, Donskov could prove to be a great fallback option, whether intentional or not on the part of the Oilers front office.
Add us as a preferred source on Google