Current Oilers coach being targeted for head coach job with Conference Rival

Jay Woodcroft was the most recent head coach for the Oilers prior to Knoblauch, and has interviewed with numerous teams but has been unable to land a new job. Gulutzan is just now being evaluated for a head coach job.

According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on the most recent edition of 32 Thoughts Podcast, Jay Woodcroft and Glen Gulutzan are two of the top candidates for Dallas after firing Pete DeBoer.

Jay Woodcroft was the Oilers head coach just before Kris Knoblauch, and was fired in the same season they reduced the Stanley Cup Final. Woodcroft only coached the Oilers for parts of three seasons, racking up an impressive record of 79-41-13 in that time. For one of the younger coaches in the NHL, Woodcroft is exceptionally experienced and successful.

On the other side, Glen Gulutzan has been running the Oilers powerplay since joining the team in 2018, and they've been one of the most successful in the NHL. Gulutzan has previous head coaching experience with the Calgary Flames, and even coached the Dallas Stars for two years in 2011-2013.

Losing Gulutzan would be a blow to the successful Oilers powerplay, but the talent players o the unit Coke surely be successful without him. He's paid his dues as an assistant for years, and has proven himself to earn a new head coach role.

It's interesting that Dallas is considering two former Oiler coaches in their hiring process after losing the last two years to Edmonton in the conference final. Perhaps they're looking for any insight with a former Oiler coach, but mostly, playing against McDavid and Draisaitl isn't a recipe for success.

We'll see if the Stars choose to hire either former Oilers coach, perhaps to prepare for another conference final next year. If they do hire Gulutzan, Coach Knoblauch will have to make his first addition to the staff since being hired.