Would it make sense for the Edmonton Oilers to hire Glen Gulutzan as an assistant coach or potential replacement for Todd McLellan?
With the Edmonton Oilers on the outside looking in when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, at least they have some satisfaction that the Calgary Flames aren’t in the postseason either. The provincial rivals have always made sure for years that one team doesn’t get ahead of the other, no matter what the costs.
It also somewhat reflected on the games they had this season where the Oilers were playing spoiler to Flames’ playoff hopes and played a tiny part in missing the playoffs this year.
But the one thing that the Edmonton Oilers didn’t commit to that the Calgary Flames had no hesitation doing was firing their head coach, Glen Gulutzan. It’s bizarre to see a coach of Gulutzan’s stature getting canned after only being with the team for two seasons. He got the Flames to the playoffs last season, but they did lose in the first round against the Anaheim Ducks.
This past year the Flames were in playoff contention all the way till after the All-Star break where the team took a crazy nose dive down the conference standings. It looked like the Flames President of Operations Brian Burke had no issue throwing Gulutzan under the bus after the season wrapped up.
Serious Question
So why is a former rival head coach being mentioned in an Oilers article you say? Well, that’s because there has been a rumor floating around the past few days that the Edmonton Oilers are interested in adding him as an assistant coach.
This speculation was hatched by Hockey Night in Canada Insider Elliot Friedman on the Oilers Now radio show with Bob Stauffer. This type of thought shouldn’t be taken with a grain of salt because Friedman has an excellent track record of what moves might be happening in the NHL.
Just speculation from Friedman but he tells @Bob_Stauffer that he would be curious to see if there is a possibility that Gulutzan ends up on the #Oilers bench as an assistant coach or something like that.
— Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer (@OilersNow) April 20, 2018
If that’s the case, why would the Edmonton Oilers want to get Glen Gulutzan on their coaching bench? The most obvious reason is to have him as a plan B if Peter Chiarelli fires Todd McLellan next season. The question that was posed as the title of this article is should Glen Gulutzan should be a plan B for the Oilers as a head coach.
The answer is a resounding yes. Why do you ask? It’s because both Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli must deliver next season in preparing the Oilers back to the postseason.
If this team gets off to a rocky start, McLellan will get canned, and they would need a coach to step up to the plate and ride the ship. Gulutzan would be a perfect candidate to helm the bench and maximize the talent he has at his disposal.
But let’s remember that this is all speculation, so we might not know if all this would come to fruition.