{"id":471112,"date":"2025-06-26T17:46:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T21:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=471112"},"modified":"2025-06-26T17:46:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T21:46:00","slug":"report-anaheim-ducks-hiring-former-head-coach-as-assistant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/06\/26\/report-anaheim-ducks-hiring-former-head-coach-as-assistant\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Anaheim Ducks Hiring Former Head Coach as Assistant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today we have some news out of Anaheim. Jay Woodcroft joins the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/q\/quennjo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Quenneville<\/a>, with the official announcement expected July 1.<\/p>\n<h2>Jay Woodcroft Joins Anaheim Ducks Coaching Staff Under Joel Quenneville<\/h2>\n<p>The Anaheim Ducks are making another major move behind the bench. According to <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/frank_seravalli\/status\/1938253627337937019\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frank Seravalli<\/a> of the Daily Faceoff, he is reporting that Jay Woodcroft will join Anaheim\u2019s coaching staff as an assistant under Joel Quenneville. While the hiring is not yet official, the Ducks are expected to announce the hiring on July 1, once Woodcroft\u2019s contract with the Edmonton Oilers expires.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sources say former <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Oilers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Oilers<\/a> head coach Jay Woodcroft will be joining Joel Quenneville&#39;s staff as an assistant with <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NHLDucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NHLDucks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Likely to be announced July 1 after Woodcroft&#39;s current deal in Edmonton expires.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/frank_seravalli\/status\/1938253627337937019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"814\" data-end=\"1202\">Jay Woodcroft Brings a Skill-Focus to the Ducks<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"814\" data-end=\"1202\">This development marks a strong addition for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/06\/23\/anaheim-ducks-trade-star-centre\/\" target=\"_self\">Anaheim<\/a>, as Woodcroft brings both recent playoff success and a modern, player-focused approach. In two-full seasons with the Oilers, he posted a 79-41-13 regular season record and helped guide Edmonton to the Western Conference Final in 2022. The Oilers let Woodcroft go early in the 2023\u201324 season after a sluggish start, despite high expectations.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1204\" data-end=\"1358\">Now, Woodcroft reportedly finds his next chapter in Anaheim. What&#8217;s more is that he is teaming up with a coaching legend in Quenneville, as the Ducks push forward in their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/06\/12\/analyzing-veteran-wingers-impact-on-the-anaheim-ducks\/\" target=\"_self\">rebuild<\/a>. Interestingly, the Ducks interviewed Woodcroft as one of their head coaching candidates before selecting Quenneville. This seems to be a win-win for Anaheim.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ducks interviewed Jay Woodcroft during the head coach search, so this would be an interesting turn. Bit of \u201cbest of both worlds\u201d situation.<\/p>\n<p>Power play coach?<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FlyTogether?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#FlyTogether<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iOS0BYQqhZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/iOS0BYQqhZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Zach Cavanagh (@ZachCav) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZachCav\/status\/1938254407612961141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1365\" data-end=\"1396\">What It Means for the Ducks<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1398\" data-end=\"1842\">The move underscores Anaheim\u2019s commitment to high-level mentorship and development for its young core. With Joel Quenneville at the helm and Jay Woodcroft joining Anaheim\u2019s bench, the Ducks gain a blend of championship pedigree and modern coaching philosophy. Woodcroft\u2019s strengths in player communication, special teams, and offensive structure will be invaluable for developing talents like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/carlsle01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Leo Carlsson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/gauthcu01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cutter Gauthier<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mintypa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pavel Mintyukov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1844\" data-end=\"1989\">If finalized, this hire rounds out one of the most compelling benches in the NHL. It also very likely accelerates Anaheim\u2019s timeline back to playoff contention.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1844\" data-end=\"1989\">Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today we have some news out of Anaheim. Jay Woodcroft joins the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach under Joel Quenneville, with the official announcement expected July 1. Jay Woodcroft Joins Anaheim Ducks Coaching Staff Under Joel Quenneville The Anaheim Ducks are making another major move behind the bench. According to Frank Seravalli of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5399,"featured_media":471129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":[20,23,4547,34,4548],"tags":[5910,7227,1501],"class_list":["post-471112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ducks","category-oilers","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","tag-anaheim-ducks-news","tag-jay-woodcroft","tag-joel-quenneville"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471112","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\/5399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471112"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":471133,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471112\/revisions\/471133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}