Oilers analysts suggest bold assistant coaching change after 15 games

Paul Coffey departed from the coaching staff to return to his previously-held role of special advisor to ownership and hockey operations this offseason.

Coffey had spent two years behind the Oilers' bench as an assistant coach, working with the defencemen and making them better under his tutelage and guidance.

Since taking over from David Mason in 2023, almost every Oilers' defenseman improved, defensively and offensively, creating more high danger chances for, while allowing fewer against, the mark of a solid defense-core.

Evan Bouchard, Brett Kulak, Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse all were better, with Coffey emphasizing puck-possession and control under pressure, and not just turning it over, allowing the opposition more chances to score, a trend that has cost the Oilers of late.

Now, with statistical analysis as his tool, David Staples has tracked the Oilers' defensive performances for 15 years, revealing a trend that suggests Edmonton is better-off with Coffey leading the team's defense.

Tracking grade A shots for and against, Staples learned that under Coffey, Evan Bouchard created far more scoring chances than he gave up, while Jake Walman was about even and Mattias Ekholm just behind, all indicating strong-to-excellent performances on the ice.

Now, since Mark Stuart took over for Paul Coffey, the numbers are disappointing and put a face to the early season trend of allowing weak goals.

Bouchard's grade A chances for and against have gone from +0.37 under Coffey to -0.64 per game under Stuart; same with Nurse, -0.37 to -1.02, and Ekholm, from -0.12 per game to -0.5 under Stuart. Kulak has dropped from -0.59 to -0.89, and finally Walman from 0.0 to -0.7.

One thing is certain, there is definite room for improvement.