EDMONTON — With the Edmonton Oilers on the brink of a lost season and having little salary-cap flexibility available, Ken Holland had really only one option to shake up his team.
On Thursday, the Oilers president of hockey operations/general manager fired head coach Dave Tippett and assistant coach Jim Playfair. Holland then named Jay Woodcroft, who'd been coaching Edmonton's AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif., as the NHL team's head coach while bringing assistant coach Dave Manson with him.
Holland told reporters he simply doesn’t have the ability to make the sort of trade-deadline deal where Edmonton gives up prospects and picks for high-priced veteran help.
"If we want to add $2 million, we’ve got to move $2 million," Holland said.
Later on, Holland was even more blunt.
"The solution probably has to be in the room," he said.
Holland described Edmonton's season as "being up and down like a toilet seat." Led by red-hot starts by star forwards Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, the Oilers rocketed out of the gate, winning 16 of their 21 games. But then came losing streaks, including a brutal 2-11-2 stretch, as the franchise went from having the Western Conference's best record to now being outside of the playoff picture.
But there was some hope as Edmonton went 5-0-1 before the all-star break. But, with a compressed schedule ahead thanks to many rescheduled games the result of the Omicron wave, the Oilers got off to an awful post-break start, losing at home 4-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, then 4-1 to Chicago on Wednesday.
It was in the third period of Wednesday night's game that Holland recognized he had to make a coaching change. In over a quarter century of running teams in Detroit and Edmonton, Holland had never made an in-season coaching change before Thursday.
“We played a great second period, and I hoped we could rally in the third, but we didn't," he said. "As the third period wound down, then, after I went home and I was by myself, I thought.
"And then I talked to a couple of people last night, and then I got up in the morning and I talked to Mr. Katz (Oilers owner Daryl Katz) and said that I felt I needed to make a change."
Holland said earlier in the season he had envisioned being able to give Tippett, who was in the final year of his contract, an extension. And Holland said he shouldn’t escape criticism.
“Put me in the group. I built the team. It’s probably why we’re here today," he said. "If I had the answer, if anybody had the answer, there wouldn’t be those wild swings."
Holland added veteran defencemen Cody Ceci and Duncan Keith in the off-season, the latter a two-time Norris Trophy winner and three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks. He brought in Zach Hyman and Warren Foegele to help the forecheck and crash the net, two areas Holland said the Oilers needed to improve.
Two weeks ago, he brought in embattled winger Evander Kane on a contract that takes him to the end of the season.
Holland confirmed Keith will likely be out for the next couple of weeks with injury, including time in concussion protocol. Zack Kassian could be out four-to-eight weeks with a broken jaw.
“At the end of the day, I built the team," he said. "I take full responsibility with where we are at.
"Certainly, Jim and Tip lost their jobs today, but there’s a general manager and all the people that I hire who have come to this today. It’s a tough day."
Woodcroft won a Stanley Cup in 2008 as the Detroit Red Wings’ video coach. He’s been an assistant in San Jose and compiled a 105-71-21 record with the AHL's Bakersfield Condors.
Woodcroft doesn't have the luxury of time as Edmonton hosts the New York Islanders on Friday night.
"My gut instincts are that Jay is ready," said Holland. "He’s been through a journey, from Michigan State to Detroit to San Jose to Edmonton to Bakersfield.
"He’s ready to be behind the bench in the National Hockey League."
Holland said he had two options to replace Tippett, with Oilers’ assistant Glen Gulutzan, a former coach of the Calgary Flames, being the other consideration. Holland said Mike Babcock, who worked for Holland in Detroit, was not in the mix.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb.10, 2021.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press
