It says something about the desperate state of the Edmonton Oilers that Ken Holland went nearly 25 years before making his first in-season coaching change.
He didn’t really want to fire Dave Tippett on Thursday morning.
Not even a month had passed since the veteran general manager said “there’s been seven coaches in 10 years here — you can’t just keep whipping through coaches.”
Make it eight in 10 years with Jay Woodcroft summoned from the American Hockey League to replace Tippett behind the Oilers bench for the remainder of the season.
This was a move that came after consecutive losses out of the all-star break, dropping Edmonton to 7-13-3 since early December. That gruesome slide took them from the top of the NHL standings to a spot below the playoff cutoff line in the Pacific Division.
Any whiff of a playoff-less spring should represent a Code Orange emergency at this stage.
Holland prefers to opt for stability in times of crisis, which explains why he eschewed the commonly held “you fire the coach because you can’t fire all of the players” ethos during his long run in Detroit.
However, in Edmonton he’s come up against a uniquely challenging situation even for someone with his Hall of Fame pedigree: running an organization more than a decade deep on its rebuild, in possession of two of the NHL’s most dynamic forwards, and still with a team not showing any signs of morphing into a contender.
At least not since a roaring 16-5-0 start that was fuelled by an outrageously hot power play.
Of this season, Holland remarked: “It’s been up and down like a toilet seat.”
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/sports/hockey/opinion/2022/02/10/dave-tippetts-firing-shows-how-desperate-the-oilers-are-a-decade-into-the-rebuild/tippett_bench.jpg)
Tippett was flushed under similar circumstances to the six peers fired before him during this tumultuous campaign — after not getting nearly enough saves to bank wins. The Mikko Koskinen/Mike Smith tandem didn’t withstand the stress test, which is on Holland more than anyone else. Even with some decent performances from No. 3 goalie Stuart Skinner, the Oilers sat 28th overall with a .900 save percentage when the axe fell.
Known as a coach who led stingy defensive teams, Tippett could never shape the Oilers in the image of his Coyotes or Stars.
Some of that comes down to personnel, obviously, but it was telling that in addition to hiring Woodcroft, the Oilers also brought assistant Dave Manson up from Bakersfield to replace Jim Playfair.
The implication was clear: They’re searching for some fresh ideas on the defensive side of the puck.
Woodcroft has been building toward this kind of opportunity for years, having spent a decade as a NHL assistant and the last three-plus years as the head man in Bakersfield. He’s well-respected and poised to become a long-time NHL head coach, according to Holland — at least assuming he can successfully navigate the 38-game tryout he’s being handed now.
What makes the Oilers situation so compelling is that this isn’t just any team trying to find its way back on track.
This is a franchise that lucked into Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — not long after making three consecutive No. 1 overall picks — and still has just one playoff series win to show for its troubles since 2006.
McDavid and Draisaitl have claimed four of the past five scoring titles and been voted the Hart Trophy winner three of the past five years. During all-star weekend McDavid sounded exasperated when asked about his position in this year’s scoring race, saying the only thing that matters to him is winning games in Edmonton.
They simply haven’t won as many as expected since he arrived.
If nothing else, the Oilers coaching change should settle any debate about whether this roster has been constructed in a way that can produce success.
There were some who felt Tippett overplayed Draisaitl and McDavid — essentially asking too much of his stars to compensate for holes or shortcomings elsewhere. He also seemed to forever be jumbling his forward lines in search of answers that never came.
But the head coach didn’t construct the blueline or make the decision to stick with the Smith/Koskinen tandem for another season after combing the market the past two summers for a more reliable starter.
Holland need not worry too deeply about his own future, not with a $5-million annual contract that extends two years beyond this one and a resume that includes four Stanley Cup rings with the Red Wings.
His legacy won’t be defined by this stop.
But by firing Tippett he used one of the few remaining bullets in his chamber. The GM recently brought in Evander Kane as a free agent and cautioned against expecting fireworks at the trade deadline because of a tight salary cap and his unwillingness to part with a first-round pick.
On Thursday, he said it was on the players in the dressing room to change their own fortunes: “We have to get cracking and start winning some games.”
And if it doesn’t work? If they’re not able to get the job done?
The Oilers may be too far down the road with two superstars to start over.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)