EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — The struggling Edmonton Oilers have fired coach Dave Tippett, according to two people with direct knowledge of the decision.
The move was confirmed Thursday by the people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced. One said Tippett would be replaced by Jay Woodcroft, the head coach of the Oilers’ AHL branch in Bakersfield, Calif.
After starting the season 16-5-0, the Oilers went 7-13-3 in a stunning performance for a team led by stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Edmonton (23-18-3) sits fifth in the NHL’s Pacific Division, five points behind a wild card, and has lost its last two games.
The dismissal is the seventh coaching change in the NHL this season and the second in the past two days after Martin St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme at Montreal, who is bottom of the standings after reaching the Cup final Stanley last season.
Tippett, 60, was named Oilers coach in May 2019, three weeks after Ken Holland was hired as general manager and president of hockey operations. Tippett received a three-year contract, but the Oilers never made it past the first round of the playoffs under his leadership, even though Draisaitl (2020) and McDavid (2021) won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVPs. NHL.
Tippett coached the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes from 2009-10 to 2016-17. He won the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in his first season.
He came to Edmonton 553-413-120 with 28 ties in 14 seasons with the Coyotes and Dallas Stars, which he coached for six seasons. Tippett, who played more than 700 NHL games, served as a senior adviser to the Seattle Kraken before joining Edmonton.
This is Edmonton’s second coaching change in less than four years: the Oilers fired Todd McLellan in November 2018 after a 9-10-1 start. Ken Hitchcock coached the team for the last 62 games of the season.
___
AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.