McLellan opts for familiar faces
Coach recruits his former San Jose helpers Woodcroft, Johnson
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Todd McLellan has gone back to the future for his coaching staff.
The new Edmonton Oilers head coach will be bringing in his former San Jose Sharks assistants Jay Woodcroft and Jim Johnson.
Woodcroft, whom McLellan referenced as a possible addition to the staff on the May day he was hired, was always thought to be coming aboard. Johnson, who looked after the defence along with Larry Robinson in San Jose, will be on the bench along with Woodcroft, who worked with McLellan on Canada’s squad that won the world hockey championship this spring.
Former NHL defenceman Bob Boughner’s name came up in recent days as a possible assistant coach for the Oilers because the Windsor Spitfires owner was Taylor Hall’s junior coach. But McLellan is sticking with a familiar cast.
Johnson played 829 NHL games as a defenceman with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals and Phoenix Coyotes. He was an assistant coach for the Capitals before joining McLellan in San Jose in 2012.
Woodcroft was with McLellan in Detroit on the Red Wings’ coaching staff when they won the Stanley Cup in 2008. He went to California when McLellan got the San Jose job that spring.
It’s expected that last year’s eye-in-the-sky assistant coach Rocky Thompson will be back along with longtime video coach Myles Fee. Thompson was hired by former Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins.
There has been no word on whether goalie coach Dustin Schwartz will return.