Edmonton Oilers: Top 3 Takeaways on The Hiring of Dave Tippet

The Edmonton Oilers newest bench boss is giving fans new reasons to be optimistic.

There is plenty to digest from the information we have received in the past couple of days.  The main pieces have been set; for (hopefully) the long term future the Oilers will be run by Ken Holland as GM and Dave Tippett as coach.  There is a long time between now and the start of the 2019/2020 season but fans have reason to feel optimistic once more.  Here are my big takeaways thus far on what Dave Tippett can bring to the Oilers.

1.) Tippett Is A Smart Guy

This isn’t to say that previous coaches for Edmonton have not been intelligent individuals.  Todd McLellan for example was clearly a veteran coach with an impressive resume, but it was difficult to ever glean any details from his remarks.  McLellan always spoke about “working harder than the other team”, and “not taking a shift off” but he rarely gave concrete examples.

In the brief time we have heard from Tippett, he has spoken of the importance of having a 5 man unit attacking in the offensive zone, how defending too much can be an issue (I’m looking at you Kris Russell), and using St Louis as an example of what a fourth line in the NHL needs to be able to do.

Ex players like Shane Doan, who were coached by Tippett for years, have spoken about Tippett’s communication skills and how effective he is at explaining what he wants to players.  Hearing Tippett able to so articulately showcases that he is a players coach and should be able to build a strong relationship with his team.

2.) Tippett Kaiboshed being a “Defensive Coach”

The biggest concern most fans had with the idea of Tippett coaching in Edmonton was due to years of being traumatized by watching Coyotes Hockey, and seeing the Oilers get lulled to sleep in 1-0 losses.  When asked about this mentality, Tippett chuckled and responded

“in Dallas I was known as an Offensive Coach.”

In Arizona Tippett had no superstar players or anyone even close to being an elite scorer.  Instead, Tippett had a group of role players along with some good depth on the backend and in net and therefore created a system that was defense first.  In Edmonton Tippett will have McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent Hopkins as options to put on the ice every night.  Due to the lack of a true #1 defenseman in Edmonton, it will be interesting to observe and see how Tippett utilizes a fairly average group on the backend.

3.) Tippett and Holland Appear To Have A Strong Relationship

I want to avoid looking back at the past too much but the Peter Chiarelli era in Edmonton was an absolute mess.  Bob Nicholson himself alluded to the fact that Pete preferred to do things his own way and wasn’t too keen on listening to others for ideas.  Whenever Chiarelli and McLellan or Hitchcock were in the same room together, it certainly felt like a boss and employee relationship.

That does not appear so far to be the case between Holland and Tippett.  Both men have known and worked with each other for a number of years and listening to the duo talk feels much more like two individuals who stand eye to eye.  Holland admitted that Tippett was his top choice for this job and it is clear the two have similar ideas and philosophies when it comes to how they want to build this team.

Chiarelli brought in players like Manning and Petrovic who were almost immediately shown to the bench by Hitchcock; that is a disconnect between GM and coach.  Look for Tippett to be directly involved in the acquisition of players or at the least have a strong say in the type of player he envisions for this roster.