- Ryan Marsh will not return to the Oilers and is off to the KHL
- He was hired as an assistant to Shanghai Dragons head coach Mitch Love
- Read below for what Marsh did in Edmonton and who else Shanghai has pulled out of the NHL
The Edmonton Oilers are losing a coach to Russia.
Ryan Marsh will not be back with the club this season and has taken an assistant coaching job with the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reported. Marsh joins Mitch Love’s staff with a club that carries a Shanghai name and plays its home games out of St. Petersburg.
Marsh spent last season in Edmonton as a coaching advisor, running the injured players and the extras who were not dressing. Matheson called him a valued part of the group.
Five seasons, five leagues. Marsh has worked in the WHL, Germany’s DEL, the AJHL, the BCHL and the NHL over that stretch, and Shanghai hands him a full assistant’s title in a top pro league.
Love is the reason the job exists in its current shape. He took the Shanghai bench in January, replacing Gerard Gallant, and signed through the end of the 2026-27 season. Here is the club announcing him:
The 42-year-old Love is a Quesnel, B.C. product who was an assistant with the Washington Capitals before Shanghai called. He spent six pro seasons in the AHL as a player and never cracked an NHL lineup.
Shanghai has been raiding the NHL’s edges all summer. Defenseman Calen Addison is expected there after his run with the Sharks ended, and goalie Amir Miftakhov signed a two-year deal with the Dragons earlier this month. Kevin Labanc spent part of last season there before heading to Switzerland.
Take a look at the schedule Marsh is walking into:
Edmonton has been backfilling elsewhere on its coaching tree, too. Bakersfield assistant Adam Krug left for an associate coaching role at the University of Vermont, and Condors head coach Colin Chaulk brought in former Brampton Beast assistant Duncan Dalmao to replace him.
Love’s contract runs through next season, so Marsh is stepping onto a bench with at least one full year of runway in front of it.
