Edmonton Oilers hiring former Maple Leafs coach for critical assistant role
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly closing in on hiring coach Paul McFarland as their new assistant to run the powerplay.
McFarland will be replacing assistant coach Glenn Gulutzan, the last powerplay coach who spent 7 years with the Oilers organization before leaving to coach the Dallas Stars.
Edmonton Oilers announce multiple new coaching hires including Paul McFarland
According to new reports from NHL insider Jeff Marek, the Edmonton Oilers will name Paul McFarland to their assistant coach staff.
Moments later, the Edmonton Oilers made the full announcement of their coaching hires, also including Peter Aubry as goalie coach and Conor Allen as skills coach.
McFarland grew up playing junior hockey, but like Coach Knoblauch, never made it pro as a player.
The new Oilers coach began his coaching career with the Oshawa Generals in 2012-13 as an assistant. He made his way to the NHL by 2017-18, joining the Florida Panthers as an assistant.
After a brief stop with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019-20, McFarland was hired by the Seattle Kraken and served as their powerplay coach. The Kraken powerplay noticeably improved with McFarland on the staff, and took a step back once he was let go.
McFarland was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sheldon Keefe's staff, and like the Kraken, the powerplay improved with his one season - and regressed the next year.
There wasn't many coaches in the NHL who had better results in the powerplay than Gulutzan in Edmonton, but that also has something to do with the talent on the roster. McFarland looks like a promising addition to run the Oilers biggest advantage.
Oilers finally replace Dustin Schwartz with new goalie coach Peter Aubry
After employing Dustin Schwartz for 10 years with poor results, the Oilers are finally making a change in strategy.
Peter Aubry served as goalie coach in Chicago for 8 years, overlapping with GM Stan Bowman. At this point, any change was a good one with the goalie coach.
Most importantly, Coach Knoblauch deserved the freedom to make his own hires to fill out the coaching staff. His last two season have proved himself as an elite coach, and now he can hand-pick talent to deliver one consistent message across the board.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 14 | 308 ANSWERS Edmonton Oilers hiring former Maple Leafs coach for critical assistant role Do you think the Oilers needed to make assistant coaching changes? | ||
| Yes | 239 | 77.6 % |
| No | 69 | 22.4 % |
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