Struggling Oilers fire Tippett; Woodcroft to take over

The Edmonton Oilers have fired head coach Dave Tippett with the team struggling in the third year of his tenure.

The move comes after the Oilers suffered a 4-1 defeat to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

I’m told Woodcroft and Manson take over bench in Edmonton. Tippett and Playfair fired. https://t.co/1dONdlxckG

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports assistant coach Jim Playfair has also been fired. Jay Woodcroft, the head coach of the team's American Hockey League affiliate Bakersfield Condors, and his head assistant, Dave Manson will take over the Oilers' bench.

Edmonton defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Dec. 1 to improve to 16-5 on the season. Since then, the team has gone 7-16.

General manager Ken Holland said earlier in the season that he didn’t believe in mid-season coaching changes, but made the move with the Oilers sitting at 23-18-3, fifth in the Pacfic Division and five points back of the Calgary Flames for the final Western Conference wild-card spot..

The Oilers jumped out to a 9-1 record this season, but have failed to find the same success since and endured a six-game losing streak in December. The team's struggles have come despite star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl sitting atop the NHL scoring race.

Tippett joined the Oilers in 2019 after serving as head coach for the Arizona Coyotes for eight years from 2009-2017. The 60-year-old spent six years as head coach of the Dallas Stars prior to his time with the Coyotes.

The Oilers reached the play-in round of the 2020 playoffs in Tippett's first season but were eliminated in four games by the Chicago Blackhawks. Last season, the Oilers posted a 35-19-2 record in the all-Canadian North Division but were swept by the Winnipeg Jets