Hiring Acton for Oilers job ‘an easy one’
Veteran coach, ex-nhler ‘at the top’ of Dallas Eakins’ list
NEW YORK — What Dallas Eakins wanted in an associate coach was experience that he could draw on, which is why he had Keith Acton at the top of his list.
The two worked together with the Toronto Maple Leafs and will now tutor the Edmonton Oilers, along with assistants Steve Smith and Kelly Buchberger, both of whom who will stay on for another year.
Acton, one of the game’s top faceoff men during his playing days, spent 10 seasons working as an assistant with the Maple Leafs, and last season worked on the Columbus Blue Jackets’ coaching staff. While he was in Toronto, both he and Eakins worked under Paul Maurice, whose name was also being thrown around as a possible candidate.
Eakins said Maurice is a head coach, not an associate.
“I knew I was going to need some veterans around me ... and when you start looking at guys you’ve worked with or looking around the league, Keith was right at the top of the list,” Eakins said. “It was an easy one.
“He covers off a lot of things we need. We need a real good technical coach. We need a guy who understands young players and definitely a guy who understands young centre icemen.”
Acton said that he’s anxious to work with Eakins, whom he described as passionate and capable, as well as president Kevin Lowe, general manager Craig MacTavish, and Scott Howson, who was the GM in Columbus when he was hired.
But it did take some consideration on his part. He does move from assistant to associate, but he wasn’t looking to leave the Blue Jackets.
“Things were moving in the right direction in Columbus,” he said.”It wasn’t easy.
“That said I’m really excited about this opportunity. This is a young and upcoming group of players.”
Eakins, ushered in as the club’s 12th head coach on June 10, said when he was named Ralph Krueger’s successor that he wanted to assess the assistants already in place.
Buchberger has been on the coaching staff since 200809 and will now be working for his fifth head coach in six seasons — and none of the first five were playoff years. Smith joined the staff in 2010.
But Eakins said that in his discussions with the players, both Buchberger and Smith had the group’s respect, which was a significant factor, and he also wants to establish a degree of continuity for a team that’s been in transition since 2010.
Frederic Chabot, the goaltending consulting for the last four seasons, also stays on.
“When you come into a new job like this, it’s always ‘Look out, he’s going to clear everything out.’ I had to really think about this,” Eakins continued on Friday.
“I had to do a lot of homework and, obviously, I sat down with (Smith and Buchberger) and I saw great value in both of them,” Eakins said.
“The easy thing for anybody is to come in and clean house, but as I went through it, I talked to a number of players, and it was amazing how respected these two guys are. I just found myself saying if I get rid of one or both of these guys, I’m going to be looking for the same guys again.
“They both have NHL experience, which is a huge thing for me. And I want to bring stability. This organization has had a great turnover of head coaches.
“This is a young group of players, and to be constantly churning people through here isn’t good for their development.”
Eakins said he will delegate which coaches will be the voices of the power play and the penalty kill, but that it will be a team approach within the coaching staff.
Acton, 55, spent parts of two seasons with the Oilers, winning a cup with them in 1988, during an NHL career that began with the Montreal Canadiens and ended with the New York Islanders. He retired after he’d put up 584 points and 1,172 penalty minutes through 1,023 games.
His first coaching gig was with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1994.
“He was a great learning tool for me, a guy who I highly respected,” said Eakins. “It was an easy one.”
Eakins will go from Sunday’s draft in New Jersey back to Edmonton, where he’ll take in the first few days of the Oilers prospect camp. He’s also got a list of things to do from his wife and he wants to start making some preparations for training camp.
NHL free agency starts on Wednesday. “This is going to be a busy seven to 10 days for the Edmonton Oilers,” Eakins concluded.