Prior to officially announcing his retirement last week, former Edmonton Oilers forward Derek Ryan gave a wide-ranging interview with Bob Stauffer on Oilers NOW.
While it was just a small part of the 18-minute interview, Ryan’s comments criticizing how Oilers management handled his demotion to the American Hockey League (AHL) last season made all the headlines.
But that resulted in what should have been another attention-grabbing remark by Ryan flying under the radar. When told by Stauffer that he might make a good development coach one day, Ryan expressed a desire to have just such a role in Edmonton right now.
“I definitely would like to do something like that, and I wouldn’t mind being involved with the Oilers currently, because of the reach and the touch that I have in that locker room …” the 38-year-old native of Spokane, Wash., said.
Ryan Had Significant Off-Ice Role
In some respects, Ryan has already held a semi-coaching role with the Oilers: While he didn’t suit up for a single game in the 2025 NHL Playoffs, Ryan was with the Oilers for the entirety of the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.
“When you know that you’re not really going to be playing every night, it definitely takes the pressure off, and you just kind of become more of an advocate in the locker room, at least for me in my position with that group,” Ryan told Stauffer. “My voice carried a lot of weight with them and I had a lot of close relationships with those players … I think I had really tight bonds with everyone.
“I’m practising with the team, traveling with the team, I’m there for everything except (being) on the ice for games. But I’m also just trying to settle the boat when things are rocky. And when things are a little too high, settle people down, and when things are tough, we can boost people up,” Ryan continued. “So it’s just being more of a positive influence in the locker room, which I was doing when I was playing, but obviously when I wasn’t playing, that was becoming more of a focus, and that’s something that I could really take pride in.”
Ryan Has Respect in the Room
It’s not at all hard to envision a coaching role in Edmonton for Ryan, given how he already has the ears of his now-former teammates and is widely respected and beloved in the Oilers’ locker room.
As someone who just hung up his skates, Ryan could relate to today’s players and have a comprehension for how the game is now played in ways that other Oilers coaches might not be able to. In July, Edmonton made three new additions to its coaching staff: Paul McFarland (assistant coach), Peter Aubry (goaltending coach) and Conor Allen (skills coach), none of whom played a single game in the NHL.
Related: Derek Ryan Signing Revives Oilers’ Link with Alberta Golden Bears
Over the course of his decade-long NHL career, Ryan suited up for 606 regular season games and 60 playoff contests. The University of Alberta alumnus spent three seasons each with the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames before signing with the Oilers during the 2021 offseason.
Ryan Moves Beyond Bitter Feelings
Ryan had been a fixture in Edmonton’s bottom six for virtually his entire Oilers tenure before being waived in January. He cleared waivers and was loaned to the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL, where he spent most of the final three months of the 2024-25 season.
Without naming names, Ryan suggested that things would have been different under the leadership of Ken Holland, who served as Oilers general manager until his contract expired at the end of the 2023-24 season. Stan Bowman was hired as Holland’s successor in the summer of 2024.
“It was a little bitter for me just because of how things were handled with the new management and the somewhat-new coaching staff,” Ryan said on Oilers NOW. “The brickwork that I had laid with that group, and the blood, sweat and tears that I had given for the group for three and a half years, just to kind of have it shoved under the rug or brushed under the rug was pretty disappointing.
“I don’t think it would have been that way if the management wouldn’t have changed. Whether they’d have figured out a different way to do that or at least had better lines of communication or whatever, I would have had different feelings.”
But while headlines scream of Ryan being bitter towards the Oilers, the fact that he has interest in joining the team’s coaching staff shows that he’s already moved on and has put the past behind him. That’s exactly what you’d expect from a consummate pro such as Ryan, and listening to his Oilers NOW appearance, it becomes quite clear that he still feels a strong connection with the Orange and Blue.
Ryan Won’t Coach in the NHL Yet
That said, don’t expect Ryan to be back in Edmonton. In the same breath that he speaks of wanting to be part of the Oilers coaching staff, he talks about wanting to be a dad, doing all the things that he’s missed out on because of his commitments as a pro hockey player. And as it turns out, Ryan already has a coaching gig: with his son’s team in Spokane.
“My son had his first tournament in Seattle last weekend. I was on the bench for every game, and there for every laugh, every smile, every tear, so it’s nice to just be there,” Ryan said to Stauffer. “So I think it’s just a real opportunity for me to just be present in all that right now, and then as the years go – maybe it’s one year, maybe it’s three years, I don’t know – and then we’ll kind of reassess how things are going after that.”
Whether it’s one year, three years, or longer, Ryan should have plenty of opportunities if and when he decides to pursue coaching in the NHL.
