Woodcroft's Oilers look lethal on offence

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Did a coaching change save the Edmonton Oilers season?

Two months ago, the Oilers’ front office decided to part ways with then-head coach Dave Tippett after an unremarkable start to the 2021-22 regular season.

No team is immune to a regular-season swoon, and Tippett’s teams – which played to a 97-point pace over his tenure – were usually competitive. But the baseline for a club with arguably two of the four best players in the world to clear could not possibly be that of a wild-card team. Moreover, this year’s Oilers team at the time of Tippett’s termination (23-18-3) were anything but assured of a playoff spot.

The Oilers have been a fascinating team on this front for some time. The talent within the organization always seems ahead of the actual wins and losses for years now.

The Oilers have had to get creative with the salary cap – in part because of the big contracts, in part because of poor roster-building decisions of years past – and that’s meant under investment in other parts of the roster, like the goaltending position.

And yet, even recognizing this team isn’t perfect, it’s been difficult to understand why it hasn’t been more dominant in an increasingly weakening Western Conference.

Jay Woodcroft, promoted from the team’s American Hockey League club in Bakersfield to replace Tippett, has seemingly had the magic touch. Looking at standings performance, it’s hard to argue otherwise:

Only the Montreal Canadiens have made a bigger jump in performance when comparing pre-Feb. 10 splits versus post-Feb. 10 splits, but that’s because they established such a shockingly dismal floor to start the season.

In Edmonton’s case, the Oilers moved from a 91-point pace team to a 116-point pace team, which is