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Edmonton Oilers Fire Jay Woodcroft #LetsGoOilers @myNHLTradeRumor @FP_Coverage @RodPedersenShow
Thoughts: pic.twitter.com/VXKuDBac7w
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) November 12, 2023
The Edmonton Oilers are making a coaching change after their win Saturday night in Seattle. Edmonton has relieved head coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant Dave Manson. The Oilers have announced that Kris Knoblauch is the new coach in Edmonton.
The #Oilers announced today that head coach Jay Woodcroft & assistant coach Dave Manson have been relieved of their coaching duties.⁰
Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch will assume head coaching duties with the Oilers & will be joined by assistant coach Paul Coffey.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 12, 2023
The Oilers were off to a bad start. As a matter of fact, they were one of the worst teams not only in the Pacific Division but the NHL. With a record of 3-9-1, the Oilers just did not look well on the ice. Outside of their win against Seattle, where Zach Hyman scored a first-period hat trick, Edmonton has been off this season.
As mentioned earlier this week on Full Press Hockey, the Oilers have not played defensively this season. Woodcroft changed the system from man to man to a box, aka zone plus one. That was not working. It was exposing their weaknesses even more. The Oilers could not defend, score, or get a save. Hence we saw Jack Campbell go to the minors. But Campbell was not the issue.
It was an organizational problem. And thus, Jay Woodcroft is taking the fall. This decision was made this week. Woodcroft knew it and so did Manson after their loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
as jay woodcroft and dave manson walk off the ice after the oilers loss to san jose, woodcroft appears to say “that might be it” to manson, who appears to respond with “yup.” pic.twitter.com/Qd1b8fNfAX
— zach (@zjlaing) November 10, 2023
Many expected Jay Woodcroft to be fired. However, the belief from some was that the plan all along was going to see how the road trip played out. Not to mention general manager Ken Holland and the organization had their decision made up a long time ago.
Even though the Oilers have not given up on their season, things had to change or else a move like this was going to happen. It is just strange to see a coach fired after a win. But as previously mentioned, their decision was made up already.
Someone was going to take the fall. It was going to be Woodcroft. Remember, coaches are hired to be fired. And teams can’t fire players, so the coach has to go.
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Since becoming the Oilers head coach, Woodcroft has had the fifth most wins in the NHL. He has a record of 79-41-13 a winning percentage of 64.3 percent, and now he will be sitting on the sidelines. Woodcroft was in the second year of his three-year contract that paid him $6 million a season.
Last season, as bench boss, the Oilers went to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights. Again, it was the team that exposed the Oilers defensive issues.
The Oilers hope with Paul Coffey taking over as defensive coach, things will change.
And while Woodcroft deserves blame, the Oilers had issues that went deeper than just goaltending. They could not score or defend well. When Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are not producing at the rate we expect them to, that does not bold well for any coach.
Connor McDavid will have his sixth coach since entering the league as Kris Knoblauch will be named the new coach of the Edmonton Oilers.
Now, things turn to Ken Holland. He is in the final year of his deal as GM. You have to wonder if he survives after this season.