Looks like it is official
Three-year deal for Dave Tippett in EDM
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 28, 2019
Over the past few weeks, first with the hiring of Ken Holland, to the firing of the director of pro scouting Duane Sutter, to now bringing in Dave Tippett, the Oilers organization is going through big changes.
A few facts about the Oilers new bench boss.
The season prior to Dave Tippett taking over as coach the Phoenix Coyotes, the team finished with 79 points under Wayne Gretzky. The following year under Tippett the team jumped up to 107 points.
Similar years prior when Tippett took over in Dallas, the team had just had a disappointing season, finishing well out of a playoff position. His first season behind the reins, Tippett helped lead the Stars to first in their division with 111 points. For a team like Edmonton that has had plenty of disappointing seasons, seeing how quickly the turnaround has been for teams Tippett has coached should be promising for Oilers fans.
Let’s also squash the nonsense that Tippett coaches the offense out of players. People worried about similar issues with Ken Hitchcock in Edmonton and despite how the team finished in the standings, McDavid, Nugent Hopkins, Draisaitl, and Darnell Nurse all finished with career seasons offensively. Likewise, Mike Modano, Ray Whitney, Vrbata, Shane Doan to name a few all enjoyed career years under Tippett.
Tippett asks all his players to contribute and play a 200 foot game. When Hitchcock coached Edmonton he had a great quote, “when you have the puck that’s your time, when you don’t have it that’s my time.… The same can be said about Tippett. The biggest challenge we will see is which players are and are not able/willing to adjust to his game plan.
Holland and Tippett both have a very similar approach when it comes to young players; that development is the best approach and for fans hoping to see the likes of Benson or Jones in the lineup next season, that may come as a disappointment but is in the teams best long term interests. Max Domi, who just enjoyed his most productive season yet often speaks about how being kept in the AHL another year resulted in him being a much more effective player.
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So far I have given Tippett a fairly glowing report but the doubters are not unwarranted. Similar to many coaches who have been around for a long time, Tippett will lean on his veteran players and give them more chances to fail than younger, less experienced players. Should Milan Lucic be on the Oilers roster next season, don’t be surprised to see him still receive ample time while a Jesse Puljujarvi may struggle.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who is behind the Oilers bench if they do not have a competitive team in place. I am under the belief that Tippett will be able to get the most out of whatever team the Oilers are able to put in front of him.
As long as he doesn’t go after Mike Smith.