No word yet on whether Tippett will join Oilers
Former coach of Arizona and Dallas would bring experience in turning teams around
So, there’s been no puff of smoke to signal Dave Tippett’s coaching coronation yet.
It doesn’t mean the former Arizona and Dallas head coach isn’t coming here, but GM Ken Holland, who met with Tippett Thursday in Vancouver, doesn’t have his name on a contract yet and it’s not like Tippett is the only candidate he’s interviewed face-to face — Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan and New York Islanders Lane Lambert may also have had one.
Holland, who flew back to his home in Detroit for the Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., said a few days ago if he didn’t have a coach by this Friday, he was putting it off until the week of June 3-7. He said he would be in Buffalo at the NHL Combine interviewing possible draft picks with the Oilers picking eighth and wanted to focus solely on that.
Perhaps Tippett, who currently works for the Seattle expansion team as an adviser, is looking for the same ballpark $4 million for three years that Ralph Krueger reportedly got in Buffalo, but whether the Oilers want to go longer than that — Holland has a five-year deal — or for the same Krueger dough is up in the air.
Holland likes Tippett, who’s coached 1,114 NHL games, but he also knows he holds the upperhand because Tippett wants to get back into the coaching swirl. Plus, his owner Daryl Katz has to pay ex-GM Peter Chiarelli not to manage his team for one more year.
Holland, who never really had a full-out job search for a head coach in his time as Red Wings’ GM, says he’s talked to lots of people, some on the phone. So, Tippett isn’t the only candidate — ex-L. A. coach John Stevens and former Philadelphia interim coach Scott Gordon may also have been interviewed, but they don’t have Tippett’s experience as head man. If Tippett, 57, gets the Oilers’ job, there’s a very good chance he might look to hiring an assistant coach he knows in the 45-year-old range who’s not far removed from playing as a bridge to the younger players.
Ray Whitney’s name leaps to mind. The former Oiler stick boy played two years for Tippett in Arizona and he was sounded out about an assistant job with Rod Brind’Amour in Carolina, but it didn’t come off. Tippett also asked Whitney about taking a spot on his Arizona staff when Newell Brown left for the Vancouver Canucks two years ago, but the timing wasn’t right.
Whitney, currently working in the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, thinks a Tippett hire here would do the trick. He may be biased because he played for him, of course.
But, while they butted heads at times in their player/coach relationship, he likes him. And, Tippett, when going to new place as coach, has a history of turning it around quickly. See Dallas. See Arizona.
“He coaches a structured game from the back-end out,” said Whitney, who scoffed at the idea Tippett might stifle Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. “He’ll put in a system … like Barry Trotz did in Long Island. They lost their best player (John Tavares) and look how they did this past year. They swept Pittsburgh.”
“Heck, I got 77 points playing
I think Tip will take the pressure off of having to score three or four goals every game.
for Tip (one of his best year statistically). Connor will still get his 100. It could be a 2-1 game and Connor and Leon can break it open 3-1 or 4-1 when the other team’s pressing. They’ll get their points.
“If Tippett were to go to Edmonton he might go to Leon and say we appreciate the 50 goals, but would you take 40 if we made the playoffs every year and he could go to Connor and say we appreciate the 100 points, but if you got 85 and we made the playoffs every year are you OK with that?” added Whitney.
“I think Tip will take the pressure off of having to score three or four goals every game. You would be anticipating the Oilers could give up two goals a game like the Islanders this year,” Whitney added.
“That’s a great analogy, seeing if the Oilers could do the same. The Oilers are way ahead of the curve because they’ve got Connor and Leon. And if I got 77 points for Tippett, those guys are better players than me.”
Whitney thinks Tippett got bored after leaving the Coyotes, which is why he jumped into the Seattle frontman role.
“Tip’s doing what he’s doing in Seattle to stay in the game. He’s a doer. He gets antsy,” said Whitney.
ON THE BENCH: Gulutzan, Trent Yawney, Manny Viveiros and goalie instructor Dustin Schwartz are twisting in the wind, not sure where they stand after working for Todd McLellan, then Ken Hitchcock as their assistant coaches. General feeling is Yawney could join McLellan in Los Angeles ... Interestingly, Tippett went to Dallas in 2002 after Hitchcock was their bench boss. Hitchcock, who’ll be working as an adviser this upcoming season, recommended Tippett to Holland to kick off his coach-search.