Oilers Haven’t Gone Far Enough With Tippett Firing

Dave Tippett had to know after a second uninspiring performance following the All-Star break that his time as Edmonton Oilers head coach was drawing to a close. He hadn’t done enough with an admittedly flawed roster to preserve a job that arguably should have been taken away from him back in December. But while Oiler fans now have a new, if familiar, face behind the bench in Jay Woodcroft, the team continues to employ several other pieces of the problem.

Not Tippett’s Fault

The past offseason was Ken Holland’s big chance to put his mark on the Oilers. He needed to move out the remaining poor decisions made by Peter Chiarelli (sorry Koskinen), and spend his significant cap room on the sort of roster upgrades that would take the team from a postseason disappointment to a true contender. He did none of that.

Holland made moves, but more of those were mistakes than miracles. If Duncan Keith hasn’t been a complete disaster, he certainly hasn’t made the team noticeably better. Zack Hyman improved the top six, but paying term and top dollar can’t be reasonably called a victory. Warren Foegele is minus 15 while Ethan Bear, who went to the Carolina Hurricanes in return is plus 9. Goaltending and defence were a concern at the start of the offseason and they remain an issue today.

Fast forward to the decision to release Tippett. If Dave Tippett was the guy to lead Edmonton out of the wilderness following the December/January slump, then it didn’t make any sense to fire him this week. Holland didn’t have the courage to remove the coach as the team free fell out of the division lead and a playoff spot altogether, offering Tippett his support more than once in the media. One can blame injuries and covid interruptions all they want, but the tardy decision to fire Tippett over a two game sample only shows that Holland doesn’t have a plan in place.

Edmonton Oilers And The New Coach Bump

Connor McDavid and company put their best skate forward to welcome interim head coach Woodcroft, defeating an Islanders club that has taken a similar step backwards in 2021-22. It’s common to see a short reversal of fortunes under a new bench boss, the Vancouver Canucks enjoyed a similar surge following the hiring of Bruce Boudreau. There’s even a chance the Oilers will continue to improve over the coming days, as Woodcroft has certainly established himself as a successful coach in the minor leagues.

But Holland shouldn’t be let off the hook if a coach his predecessor brought into the organization comes in and manages to triage the situation the GM himself put the team in. Holland has not been a good general manager in a while (ask Detroit fans) and he’s shown beyond a doubt that he should be the next to go, soon. Waiting on that decision until another early playoff exit occurs is foolish, and any additional errors Holland makes between now and then will add to the team’s future woes.

Bob Nicholson Can’t Hire Holland’s Replacement

Nicholson hasn’t done a proper job hiring the past two GMs for the franchise and there is nothing to suggest that he would do better the next time around.  Beyond him, Kevin Lowe, and really anyone who has been in the front office since before the Taylor Hall draft, need to go as well.

Edmonton sits with the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers as the worst teams of the 2000s, but each of those other organizations saw fit to change out upper management (and ownership, but don’t get me started) at some point over the course of their awfulness. Failing upwards may work at the head offices of the Oilers Entertainment Group, but it will never get the organization a Stanley Cup.