Edmonton Oilers: No excuses this year for Dave Tippett
The Edmonton Oilers have had Dave Tippett behind the bench for the past two seasons and during that time all they have done is make it to the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs once. This season, there are no more excuses for Tippett.
The Edmonton Oilers head coach is definitely in the hot seat right now depending on how things go this season.
The Edmonton Oilers need to start seeing some results in the postseason. While the issues of last year’s playoffs could be chalked up to not having enough depth, that is no longer an excuse as Ken Holland went out and tried to address the bottom six.
This team should be competitive in the postseason with all the additions to the roster. Now we just have to wait and see whether or not the team is up to the challenge, and if Dave Tippett can lead the charge for the roster.
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Dave Tippett has not had a lot of success in the postseason in the past. The Oilers coach has gone to the conference final just twice once with Dallas in 2008 and once with Phoenix in 2012. The Oilers need to be his deepest playoff run yet, and if we have seen anything the first two years with him behind the bench it is that his teams have not gotten far in the playoffs.
His first season saw the group get bounced by the Blackhawks during the qualifiers, so that does not really count as a playoff year, and this past season saw his group get swept in round one. A team with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and they cannot even get out of round one.
This is a do-or-die season for a lot of people in Edmonton as this group looked to be poised for a playoff run only to fall short in both of the past two seasons. It basically is at a point where the regular season does not matter so much – whether or not this team leads the league or division or even just sneaks into the postseason, expectations are there for May.
The Oilers have had a pretty good record under Tippett throughout the regular season – his teams are 72-44-11, but it is the playoffs that should concern people. Over the course of his career, he is 34 and 48 in the postseason. Not that great, but hopefully he can make this his best year yet.
Arguably this has to be the best roster Tippett has coached. McDavid is one of the best players ever, and this season the roster really seems to be built out around him, even if there are still problems in goal.