The Oilers have made a 180 degree turn in the way that they operate their business as of Friday and changes are lining up to continue happening very soon. The optics of Edmonton’s situation have changed drastically already. Edmonton had been a laughing stock for so long that the joke stopped being funny and transitioned to a point where people just started to feel bad. Nicholson changed that by moving Lowe strictly to the boardroom, MacTavish to some unknown location to sulk in silence, and bringing in Chiarelli to take over both their duties.
There are a series of events that very likely will transpire that will continue to push the Edmonton Oilers back to respectability. Firstly, the changes do not appear to be through in Edmonton. Chiarelli and Nicholson made immediate changes to the top of the hierarchy, but there may be more happening. It wouldn’t shock me to see Bob Green be elevated to a higher status within the organization and Howson shown the door among all kinds of other smaller changes.
The next big change will be Edmonton’s Head Coach. The changes to the way the team is being run alongside the Lottery win and the stable of young talent the team has acquired has made the job a desirable one. For coaches who have lost their jobs or are about to enter the job market, Edmonton stands out as one of the places with the most upside.
The team will have Hall, Eberle, RNH, and Yakupov all entering the prime years of their careers plus super rookie Connor McDavid surely playing for the club next year as well. They also have a veteran line capable of handling tough assignments and supporting pieces like Lander, Draisaitl, and Pouliot rounding out the forward group (depending on how the summer rolls out). What the team lacks is in Goaltending and Defense but knowing Chiarelli is the one tackling those issues makes it easier to believe they will actually be addressed.
The coaching carousel has been going on so long that next season Taylor Hall will be working under his 5th coach in 6 seasons. MacTavish gave a 4 year deal to Dallas Eakins who had no NHL track record to speak of but a portfolio of glowing reviews from the Toronto media that made him out to be a star in the coaching ranks. This time around the Oilers are going to be attracting a name coach whose track record of success fits with the amount of praise he gets. A high profile coach isn’t going to come here on a 2 year deal and Edmonton is in desperate need of stability. The time is right for a long offer to a proven bench boss.
Stability and Talent are important, but Chiarelli is a respected hockey man and the chance to work with him is also going to make the job more attractive to prospective coaches. There’s no doubt that good people wanted to steer clear of what Edmonton was doing before. There was no urgency to Win now and NHL coaches are not wired to think about the long term future. Coaches are judged on Wins and for too long the Edmonton job was about teaching and winning wasn’t expected even as coaches were being fired for not winning.
Chiarelli and Nicholson aren’t making “Bold… promises, but they have hinted that they are not trying to prolong this losing era. Chiarelli didn’t bite on saying they would be a Playoff team next year, but he did mention how much he hates missing the Playoffs. This warped idea that the team is “X years from competing… was a fiction of the old regime that was based in fantasy. It was there to keep their jobs. People repeat it like it’s a fact but there’s nothing behind it. Where does it say in the rule book that the Oilers have to be bad for 8 years after starting the Rebuild? What is supposed to happen 2 or 3 years from now that makes them good?
These guys want to Win now and that’s the mandate for whichever coach comes in. There are other teams who are just starting their rebuilds or are part of the way in but still very much have gutted teams. The Leafs want to start moving their high priced talent out. The Sabres have a much deeper pool of young talent than the Leafs but they are missing the experience that Edmonton’s high end talent has. The Sabres in particular are going to be good, but while Hall and Eberle are starting season 6 in the Fall, Eichel and Reinhart are starting season 1.
Someone reached out to me the other day to say what a turnaround the addition of Chiarelli was going to make, among other things. Again, the perception of the team is completely different now than what it was a few weeks ago. One point that this person made, that I hadn’t really considered, was that by taking the dual roles of President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Peter Chiarelli opened the door to assigning more power to his next coach. Surely those two jobs are a lot of work for just one person.
If Mike Babcock becomes available then the team is in a position to offer him a larger role than just the Head Coach as well. It has been asserted by a few that if Babcock goes somewhere else, he will want a lot more control of his team. The Oilers will be able to offer him that to ease the load on Chiarelli. Babcock could be Head Coach and Assistant GM or VP Hockey Ops. Just an interesting thought I wanted to relay.
Whether it be McLellan or Babcock, the Oilers will have a team with Cap space, a wealthy owner, a decorated CEO, a respected President/GM, a lauded coach, and the best prospect since Sidney Crosby entered the league. As they enter the summer the Oilers will have transitioned from a place to avoid, to perhaps somewhere desirable for Free Agents (cold weather and all). Well, that is if things transpire the way things are telegraphing right now.
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