Mark Spector of Sportsnet: After another loss everything has to be on the table and that could have coach Jay Woodcroft on the hot seat.
Spector writes: “That includes firing head coach Jay Woodcroft, whose non-competitive, lackadaisical team looks exactly like the one that got Dave Tippett fired, and Todd McLellan before him.”
TSN: Ryan Rishaug on the Edmonton Oilers need to show something real soon or changes could be coming and coach Jay Woodcroft could be on the hot seat.
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** NHLRumors.com transcription
Laura Diakun: “We are joined now by Ryan Rishaug, our Edmonton Oilers reporter, and Ryan, let’s start right at the top when it comes to the head coach Jay Woodcroft. What’s the situation surrounding him right now? I mean, we’re only 10 games into the season. Is this job in jeopardy at all, do you think?
Rishaug: “Yeah, I do. Laura and I agree it is early on in the season, and it seems odd to be talking about something that’s drastic already. But this team has Stanley Cup expectations, and they’ve shown nothing so far this season. So unfortunately for Jay Woodcroft, and he knows this, it’s a results-oriented business and they’ve had no results so far.
So I do believe that this option is on the table. If 10 out of 10 is where you’re at when you fire a coach, I’d put this in the seven and a half to eight range. It is getting to be situation critical time.
And so they’re heading out on the road trip. They’ve got a three-game trip here. I think it’s, it’s early right now, but they’ve got the Vancouver Canucks, they’ve got the San Jose Sharks and the Seattle Kraken. They need to show something significant on this road trip or there will be changes and I think it’s early right now we’ll see what happens in the next couple of games in particular.
Diakun: “So let’s go on the assumption now. Yes, the three-game road trip you got Woodcroft firmly in play still, as the head coach, how do they kind of go about this change and get things back on track? I mean, is it something as simple as just switching up the lines or perhaps some personnel movements when it comes to the special team units?
Rishaug: “Yeah, those are options that are at his disposal. And I think in fairness to Jay Woodcroft it’s important to point out here that he has shown the ability to turn this group around. If you remember Laura, when he arrived, I mean, this team was in the dumpster big time and he figured out the proper buttons to push and the levers to pull to get them turned around.
Last year, their second segment of 10 games, think they won three games in that segment and he turned that around as well. And I think management has to be taking that into account. He’s shown that he can find solutions. He needs to find them quickly.
What are they? You mentioned them, moving some guys around the lineup a little bit. It’s probably time to separate McDavid and Draisaitl. They’ve been playing together on a line as he tries to just sheer force of will this team into some offense. Well Draisaitl doesn’t have a goal in seven games. McDavid at now five. Which is unimaginable for these two. So I think some lineup tweaks are definitely an option.
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Or Ken Holland can try and find a trade. They have no cap space. It’d be really difficult to do but can you shake it up? Bring a new body in, try and shake up the group a little bit. Those are all options that are at their disposal.
