On Thursday’s episode of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/shows">Canucks Conversation</a>, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal discussed the case for and against Jay Woodcroft as a potential <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-interviewed-marco-sturm-head-coaching-job-report">fit behind the Canucks’ bench</a>, should the team look outside the organization for <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-report-rick-tocchet-final-candidate-anaheim-ducks-head-coaching-job">Rick Tocchet</a>’s replacement.
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“He’s not number one for me,” said Harm, “but he’s absolutely someone I’d be interviewing and heavily considering. He’s not in the same boat as those other recycled head coaches where he’s had three or four different stops and a mediocre track record.”
Woodcroft’s brief but eventful stint with the Oilers earned him a reputation as a bright, modern hockey mind, despite his abrupt dismissal after a poor start to the 2023-24 season. Harm pointed to how much Woodcroft accomplished before that downturn.
“You look at his work in Edmonton; the Oilers were teetering on the edge of disaster when Woodcroft took over in the middle of the 2021–22 season. They’d lost the qualifying play-in round in 2020 to an aging, mediocre Blackhawks. They were basically swept in 2021 in the first round by the Jets, and were outside a playoff spot when Dave Tippett was fired in February of ’22.”
Harm continued, “Think about that framework for a second: The Oilers hadn’t done anything since McDavid and Draisaitl’s second year in the league, in 2017 when they made the second round. After that, this was a team that was perennially losing in the first round and was at risk of missing the playoffs entirely. There was this conversation brewing about if it continued, would McDavid and Draisaitl want out?”
“Woodcroft takes over, they instantly go on a 26-9-3 tear which saves the franchise from an embarrassing playoff miss, and he guides them to the Western Conference Final.”
In the following season, Edmonton finished with 109 points- second in the Western Conference- and were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. Harm noted that while the roster had been bolstered with additions like Mattias Ekholm and Evander Kane, the team’s transformation from mediocre to legitimate contender was impossible to ignore.
“Of course, there were roster upgrades that happened around that time as well… so it wasn’t all coaching,” Harm acknowledged, “but you can see how they went from this mediocre, borderline, barely making the playoffs team to one of the best teams in the NHL flat out.”
As for his dismissal this past season after a 5-9-1 start?
“The mistake there was he wanted to switch the Oilers from playing man-on-man defence to more of a zone style, similar to Vegas and Tampa when they won the Cup. He also switched their neutral zone defensive scheme, but the Oilers just couldn’t adjust. It was a tire fire defensively and they couldn’t get any saves at the time from their goaltenders and had horrible shooting luck at five-on-five; one of the lowest shooting percentages in the NHL. McDavid and Ekholm were both playing hurt, so there were a ton of factors going wrong leading to that terrible start.”
“When you step back and look at his tenure as Edmonton’s head coach, the only blemish is those handful of weeks at the start of the 2023–24 year,” Harm concluded.
Still, there are fair questions about whether Woodcroft is a stylistic fit for the Canucks’ current roster.
“I do have some reservations. He proved he can coach an offence in Edmonton, but you have McDavid and Draisaitl. Can you do the same thing in Vancouver where you don’t have those elite offensive weapons, and can you instill the right defensive structure and habits? I wonder if Rutherford and Allvin would look at that and say he’s not a fit for our roster specifically.”
That said, Harm sees Woodcroft landing on his feet wherever he ends up.
“Overall, he’s a bright mind, really well spoken, really smart, and if it’s not in Vancouver, I expect him to have a lot of success in his second run at NHL head coach wherever it is.”
Oilers Nation’s BaggedMilk shared similar thoughts with Quads, telling him: “He’s a solid coach, good at x’s and o’s, player&#8217;s coach, guys would love him, but he can also go back to the well way too often when something is working vs. not working. He’s really thought out and calm, but can be slow to make changes when they’re needed.”
You can watch the full segment below:
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On Thursday’s episode of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/shows">Canucks Conversation</a>, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal discussed the case for and against Jay Woodcroft as a potential <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-interviewed-marco-sturm-head-coaching-job-report">fit behind the Canucks’ bench</a>, should the team look outside the organization for <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-report-rick-tocchet-final-candidate-anaheim-ducks-head-coaching-job">Rick Tocchet</a>’s replacement.
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&nbsp;

“He’s not number one for me,” said Harm, “but he’s absolutely someone I’d be interviewing and heavily considering. He’s not in the same boat as those other recycled head coaches where he’s had three or four different stops and a mediocre track record.”

Woodcroft’s brief but eventful stint with the Oilers earned him a reputation as a bright, modern hockey mind, despite his abrupt dismissal after a poor start to the 2023-24 season. Harm pointed to how much Woodcroft accomplished before that downturn.

“You look at his work in Edmonton; the Oilers were teetering on the edge of disaster when Woodcroft took over in the middle of the 2021–22 season. They’d lost the qualifying play-in round in 2020 to an aging, mediocre Blackhawks. They were basically swept in 2021 in the first round by the Jets, and were outside a playoff spot when Dave Tippett was fired in February of ’22.”

Harm continued, “Think about that framework for a second: The Oilers hadn’t done anything since McDavid and Draisaitl’s second year in the league, in 2017 when they made the second round. After that, this was a team that was perennially losing in the first round and was at risk of missing the playoffs entirely. There was this conversation brewing about if it continued, would McDavid and Draisaitl want out?”

“Woodcroft takes over, they instantly go on a 26-9-3 tear which saves the franchise from an embarrassing playoff miss, and he guides them to the Western Conference Final.”

In the following season, Edmonton finished with 109 points- second in the Western Conference- and were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. Harm noted that while the roster had been bolstered with additions like Mattias Ekholm and Evander Kane, the team’s transformation from mediocre to legitimate contender was impossible to ignore.

“Of course, there were roster upgrades that happened around that time as well… so it wasn’t all coaching,” Harm acknowledged, “but you can see how they went from this mediocre, borderline, barely making the playoffs team to one of the best teams in the NHL flat out.”

As for his dismissal this past season after a 5-9-1 start?

“The mistake there was he wanted to switch the Oilers from playing man-on-man defence to more of a zone style, similar to Vegas and Tampa when they won the Cup. He also switched their neutral zone defensive scheme, but the Oilers just couldn’t adjust. It was a tire fire defensively and they couldn’t get any saves at the time from their goaltenders and had horrible shooting luck at five-on-five; one of the lowest shooting percentages in the NHL. McDavid and Ekholm were both playing hurt, so there were a ton of factors going wrong leading to that terrible start.”

“When you step back and look at his tenure as Edmonton’s head coach, the only blemish is those handful of weeks at the start of the 2023–24 year,” Harm concluded.

Still, there are fair questions about whether Woodcroft is a stylistic fit for the Canucks’ current roster.

“I do have some reservations. He proved he can coach an offence in Edmonton, but you have McDavid and Draisaitl. Can you do the same thing in Vancouver where you don’t have those elite offensive weapons, and can you instill the right defensive structure and habits? I wonder if Rutherford and Allvin would look at that and say he’s not a fit for our roster specifically.”

That said, Harm sees Woodcroft landing on his feet wherever he ends up.

“Overall, he’s a bright mind, really well spoken, really smart, and if it’s not in Vancouver, I expect him to have a lot of success in his second run at NHL head coach wherever it is.”

Oilers Nation’s BaggedMilk shared similar thoughts with Quads, telling him: “He’s a solid coach, good at x’s and o’s, player's coach, guys would love him, but he can also go back to the well way too often when something is working vs. not working. He’s really thought out and calm, but can be slow to make changes when they’re needed.”

You can watch the full segment below:

https://youtu.be/ycwMFt8c2HQ?si=2ht_dokV7WLY4uq7

Sponsored by bet365
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Could Jay Woodcroft be the Canucks’ next head coach?: Canucks Conversation

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