{"id":46747,"date":"2019-05-09T21:46:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T01:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=46747"},"modified":"2019-05-09T21:46:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T01:46:25","slug":"edmonton-oilers-potential-head-coach-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/05\/09\/edmonton-oilers-potential-head-coach-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers Potential Head Coach Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Ken Hol<\/strong><strong>land\u00a0<\/strong>was named the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/oilers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a>\u00a0new general manager and president of hockey operations. With that, the off-season officially began for the team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In his introductory press conference, Holland said it\u2019s his number-one priority to find a new head coach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YrpNg8qow_U\" width=\"640\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1>Ken Hitchcock Won\u2019t Return as Head Coach<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite replacing<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/coaches\/mclelto01c.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <strong>Todd McLellan<\/strong><\/a> mid-season in 2018-19,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/coaches\/hitchke99c.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ken Hitchcock\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>will not be returning as the Oilers head coach next season. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/hockey\/nhl\/ken-hitchcock-wont-return-oilers-head-coach-next-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was reported that<\/a> he could possibly remain with Edmonton in an adviser role.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Potential Head Coach Candidates<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this point, we are not entirely sure who is at the top of Edmonton\u2019s potential candidate list. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With that said, here is a list of prospective candidates the Oilers might be interested in pursuing in the coming weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Is Todd Nelson Ready to be a Head Coach in the NHL?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/coaches\/nelsoto01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Todd Nelson<\/strong><\/a> has a history with the Edmonton Oilers organization. He served as a head coach of the<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> Oklahoma City Barons<\/strong>, the<strong> AHL<\/strong> team of Edmonton<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0from 2010 to 2015. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nelson also had <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockeydb.com\/ihdb\/stats\/pdisplay.php?pid=3940\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a short stint as a head coach for the Oilers in 2015<\/a>, after Edmonton fired Dallas Eakins in late 2014. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since then, Nelson has found success coaching the <\/span><strong>Grand Rapids Griffins<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to an AHL Championship in 2017. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most recently he was the assistant coach of a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/search\/Dallas+Stars\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dallas Stars\u00a0<\/a>team that fell one game short of reaching the Western Conference Final. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All in all, Nelson has a pretty impressive resume and at 49-years-old it looks like he might be ready to become a full-time head coach in the NHL.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Can Lane Lambert be Another Strong Candidate?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Lane Lambert<\/strong> might be another name that the Oilers have on their candidate list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 54-year-old has spent the past several years building his resume. Lambert has been working under <strong>Barry Trotz<\/strong> for the past seven years.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He served as an assistant coach under Trotz with the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/predators\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Nashville Predators<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/capitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington Capitals<\/a>, and most recently the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/islanders\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Islanders<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prior to that, Lambert coached in the AHL for six seasons, including four as a head coach for the <\/span><strong>Milwaukee Admirals<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking back further, Lambert played for Ken Holland in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/red-wings\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Detroit\u00a0Red Wings<\/a> in the &#8217;80s, so there is history there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall, there is a lot to like about Lambert\u2019s coaching experience. His impressive background could potentially make him a strong candidate for the job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Is Dave Tippett a Fit?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite being hired by<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2018\/06\/18\/seattle-expansion-team-hires-dave-tippett-as-advisor\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Seattle\u2019s expansion franchise<\/a> as a senior advisor last summer, could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/coaches\/tippeda01c.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dave Tippett<\/strong> <\/a>return as a head coach? Especially, if the Edmonton Oilers aggressively pursue him?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tippett is currently one of the best available free agents coaches out there. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His long stints with the Dallas Stars and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/coyotes\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Coyotes<\/a> are well documented. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the years, Tippett is well known for being a strong defensive-minded coach.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His coaching style is something the Oilers could use. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Granted that he is interested in returning to coaching, he might<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0be a strong candidate to win the job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps it might be a bit of a long shot, but landing him would be a huge gain for the Oilers.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Other potential candidates<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other names that might be on the target list may include <strong>Trent Yawney<\/strong>, <strong>Jay Woodcroft<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/coaches\/bylsmda01c.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dan Bylsma<\/strong><\/a> or <strong>Sheldon Keefe<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Better Make it Right<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All in all, the Oilers should consider all options before making a decision. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having only made the playoffs once in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcdavco01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Connor McDavid<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s four years in the NHL, they must try their best to give him the environment to succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it starts with hiring the right head coach for 2019-20 NHL season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"2D6s5oC9Qp92qsHHYFo-Lg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1127441952\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'2D6s5oC9Qp92qsHHYFo-Lg',sig:'coB3AX1-h4jPGneO03yRRs4zDJXn61IC2JOJ_LTPzu4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1127441952',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ken Holland\u00a0was named the Edmonton Oilers\u00a0new general manager and president of hockey operations. With that, the off-season officially began for the team. In his introductory press conference, Holland said it\u2019s his number-one priority to find a new head coach. Ken Hitchcock Won\u2019t Return as Head Coach Despite replacing Todd McLellan mid-season in 2018-19,\u00a0Ken Hitchcock\u00a0will not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2962,"featured_media":46781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,34],"tags":[1829,138,37,739,571,4053,38,4052],"class_list":["post-46747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oilers","category-news","tag-dave-tippett","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-hockey","tag-ken-hitchcock","tag-ken-holland","tag-lane-lambert","tag-nhl","tag-todd-nelson"],"modified_by":"William Grigsby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2962"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}