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Rumour: Oilers Looking at Gulutzan or Woodcroft For Next Head Coach |
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A new report suggests that the Edmonton Oilers will indeed soon be looking for a coaching replacement. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports that the Oilers will likely look to use the 10 day break that they have after the game against the Ottawa Senators to make the change. Kaplan also reports that it is her belief that the Oilers would avoid a "re-tread" such as Claude Julien and instead look at internal options such as current assistant coach Glen Gulutzan or current Condors head coach Jay Woodcroft.
Today let's break down these two options and look at some of the other names that have been brought up as potential hires.
Glen Gulutzan:
Glen Gulutzan is the current assistant coach of the Edmonton Oilers but has had a long history of head coaching in the NHL prior. His first head coaching job was for the Dallas Stars from the beginning of the 2011/2012 season where his team finished 4th in the Pacific Division and 18th overall and failed to improve the following year where he was subsequently relieved of duties.
His next head coaching job would come in 2016 when he coached the Calgary Flames into a wild-card spot before being swept in 4 games by the Ducks. The following year the Flames missed the playoffs entirely and once again Gulutzan was relieved of duties.
In Edmonton, Gulutzan must get credit for what has been very good special teams for the Oilers, most notably the powerplay but I just do not see him as a good option to take over as the head coach. This is a coach that has only made the playoffs once in any of his years as a head coach and even then his team was swept. I have no issues with him staying on as an assistant but I would be highly against elevating him further.
Jay Woodcroft:
Woodcroft is currently my personal top pick to succeed Dave Tippett as head coach. Woodcroft first came to the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach with Todd McLellan back in 2015. When McLellan was relived of duties in 2018, Woodcroft was kept on and moved to Bakersfield to coach the Oilers AHL affiliate, the Condors.
Woodcroft played a big part in the Sharks repeated powerplay success during his tenure there and has had great success as head coach of Bakersfield. Under Woodcroft the Condors tied the second longest AHL winning streak of 17 games in 2018/2019 and finished first in their division. It was the first time in the teams history in Bakersfield that they made the post-season. They would win the first round before being eliminated in the second round by the San Diego Gulls. In 20/21 the Condors finished second in their own division and ended up winning the inter-division tournament the Pacific Division held due to COVID restrictions; beating the San Diego Gulls 2-1 and the Henderson Silver Knights 2-1 in the finals.
Under Woodcroft, the Oilers have seen an influx of prospects successfully make the jump to the NHL; Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear, Kailer Yamamoto, Evan Bouchard, Jesse Puljujarvi, Tyler Benson, Stuart Skinner, and Ryan McLeod are the most notable. Woodcroft is familiar with the organization, it's players, and it's current system and could make alterations accordingly. Working with younger, skilled players, Woodcroft strikes me as a coach who would put more trust in those players rather than say having Zack Kassian out in the final minutes against Toronto or having Kyle Turris on the top unit powerplay. Just saying.
Even if the Oilers were to extend their search to across the NHL I still think Woodcroft could be the best fit for the Edmonton Oilers. Mike Babcock is an absolute non-starter for me both with his past history of player abuse and his most recent failure with a similarly structured team in the Toronto Maple Leafs (at the time of his hire). Paul Maurice is highly respected and I wouldn't be against him as a hire but with how he stepped down I don't think he is looking to immediately jump back into the ring. Woodcroft is close enough to the organization to already have a relationship with some of the players and have that familiarity while being distant enough from the current coaching regime to be able to bring in his own ideas that haven't been influenced by the likes of Dave Tippett.
Regardless of whether the Oilers win against the hapless Senators (who still have a far better record in their last 10 than the Oilers) or not, the Oilers need to bring in a new head coach. Right now Woodcroft should be their guy.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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