The Edmonton Oilers found themselves in the news in a manner of speaking during the Christmas holidays, even though they were enjoying a five-day break between games. That's because one of their former head coaches found himself with a new gig, as Todd McLellan took over from the fired Derek Lalonde in Detroit.
Almost as a side note but also just as interesting, was that among those beaten out by McLellan for the job with the Red Wings, was another former Oilers head coach. As previously reported by The Fourth Period, Jay Woodcroft was apparently also in the running for the position in Detroit.
This isn't the first time Woodcroft has been speculated to have missed out on an NHL head coaching opportunity since being fired by the Oilers. As we previously wrote, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun suggested last December, that the 48-year-old could be the choice to replace D.J. Smith in Ottawa with the Senators.
Woodcroft still looking for his next NHL coaching job
Ultimately though, it was Travis Green who took as the next permanent head coach of the Senators. And while it was never officially confirmed that Woodcroft had a chance at the job, it does bring to mind why he is still on the outside looking in when it come to the NHL, more than a year after being fired by the Oilers.
Well, Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 has a theory, which he shared during this past Friday's edition of his popular show. he said:
"In a weird way, I think Kris Knoblauch's success (after taking over in Edmonton) hurt Jay Woodcroft, even though it has nothing to do with him."
Gregor also pointed to some of Woodcroft's decisions in the 2022-23 second round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, which ultimately cost the Oilers against the eventual Stanley Cup champions. He additionally commented on the penalty kill not being particularly great in general, during the Toronto native's tenure in Edmonton.
The good v bad of Woodcroft's time in Edmonton
Clearly there's a lot to go on there, and we can appreciate why certain critics would compare Woodcroft to Knoblauch, who came in and subsequently led the Oilers to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2005-06. It also didn't help that Woodcroft's time ended due to a terrible start to the 2023-24 campaign, with a franchise-worst 2-9-1 record through the opening 12 games.
It is noticeable that the Oilers also suffered through a poor start this season under Knoblauch, albeit not as bad as last season. However, while we would contend he is indeed a better head coach that Woodcroft, this still doesn't totally explain why the latter hasn't gotten another chance yet in the NHL.
It should be noted that for the majority of his time in Edmonton, Woodcroft produced excellent results, particularly in 2022-23. He led them to their first 50-win regular season since 1986-87, they led the league in scoring, and produced an NHL-record 32.4 percent efficiency on the power play.
As we wrote just prior to the Oilers' firing Woodcroft, we believed he was extremely unlucky to be in such a tenuous position. It's also worth reminding people that, even allowing for his relatively short time as head coach in Edmonton, he is second in team history in winning percentage among head coaches (behind only Knoblauch).
At the end of the day, Gregor is just offering a theory, albeit backed up by extensive knowledge about, as well as numerous contacts within, the game. However, no matter how close this theory may or may not be to the truth, ultimately Woodcroft will get another chance at some point in the NHL, but it's just a matter of having to be patient in the meantime.