According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Todd McLellan will be the next head coach for the Edmonton Oilers.
Todd McLellan will be the next coach of the Oilers, however, the deal is not done. Still a few details being worked out.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 18, 2015
Further to @DarrenDreger report, expect Jay Woodcraft to be also named to the Edmonton Oilers staff. #TSN https://t.co/8MGVvNb8m9
— Aaron Ward (@NHL_AaronWard) May 18, 2015
Getting McLellan would continue a miraculous offseason for the Oilers. They lucked out and scored the first overall pick in this year’s draft, which means they’ll have Connor McDavid anchoring their lineup for years to come. They cleaned house by axing Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish, and replaced them with former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. Now, they are set to land one the biggest coaching free agents.
This was a team in tremendous turmoil following another season chalked full of disappointment. Getting McDavid is one thing (amazing), but bringing in Chiarelli and now potentially McLellan is quite the coup. This team’s management hierarchy was in shambles and desperate need of overhaul, and it didn’t seem like it was going to change – thankfully it has.
McLellan is a great coach. He led San Jose to the playoffs six times during his seven years with the team. His teams have had over 100 points four of those times, while producing 50+ wins three times. He’s a major upgrade over Todd Nelson, who I thought did an admirable job in his stint.
If you’re an Oilers fan you have to be excited about this team.
Pierre LeBrun reports the Oilers will have to pay compensation to the Sharks for hiring McLellan, which seems like a fair bargain all things considered.
The expectation by the way is that San Jose will indeed seek a third-round pick compensation for Todd McLellan as per the new rule
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 18, 2015
I have to stress that while nothing has officially been confirmed, this looks like a sure bet to happen.
We’ll have more when that confirmation happens, but Oilers fans should be very, very excited.
