Edmonton Oilers' Firing of Dave Tippett Might Be Too Little Too Late

There were some absolute blockbuster trades completed Thursday ahead of the NBA trade deadline, and it begged the question: Why doesn't this happen in the NHL? 

Hopefully, there will be a day when a superstar like Connor McDavid is traded for another one of his caliber. That day is not today, but it should be because McDavid is left to languish on yet another mediocre Edmonton Oilers team unlikely to make the playoffs. 

On Thursday, McDavid's head coach was fired. Dave Tippett is the third head coach McDavid has played for, and he was replaced by Jay Woodcroft, a very good, up-and-coming coach who still can't fix the goaltending situation or turn back the clock on defenseman Duncan Keith. 

Tippett wasn't the problem. Ken Holland, the Oilers general manager, and his poorly constructed roster are the problems.

Holland decided to go all-in over the summer by spending up to the salary cap, opening up the checkbook for goalie Mike Smith and Keith, who are 39 and 38 years old, respectively. 

Smith was coming off of one of the best seasons of his career when he was extended for $2.2 million. He even received Vezina Trophy votes last year after putting up a .923 save percentage. But it was a shortened season, and Smith faced the same few opponents because of the temporary divisional realignments.

That's not to diminish the impact he had on the Oilers, but at his age, it wouldn't have been difficult to predict a decline in his performance or health—both of which we've seen this season as he's battled leg, upper-body and thumb injuries while registering an .890 save percentage. 

It's not that his salary-cap hit is so outrageous, but when coupled with Mikko Koskinen's contract, it's obvious how hamstrung the Oilers truly are. The duo accounts for 8.2 percent of the team's cap money, and they have a combined .898 save percentage, better than only the Arizona Coyotes, the league-worst Montreal Canadiens, the New Jersey Devils and the Seattle Kraken. Koskinen's -3.95 goals saved above average is one of the worst in the league. 

You can't fault Koskinen for the most recent losses since he entered COVID-19 protocols Monday. Coming out of the All-Star break, Edmonton has been outscored a combined 8-1 by the Vegas Golden Knights and Chicago Blackhawks.

You might be inclined to give the Oilers a break against the Golden Knights, but this is a team that was supposed to compete with Vegas for the Pacific Division title. Instead, they're trailing the Golden Knights and the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames in the standings. They have a 39.7 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to MoneyPuck.com, and they have some ground to make up to catch those aforementioned division rivals. However, it's a steep uphill climb even for a team that has two of the best players in the world in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. 

Edmonton is a prime example of just how crucial it is to have good goaltending. The club has been unable to develop any itself. They ran Cam Talbot and Devan Dubnyk out of town, and both were better elsewhere. Talbot is in the midst of an All-Star campaign with the Minnesota Wild. 

Trying to predict a player's career arc is an inexact science, especially when it comes to goaltending. But the ability to scout, draft and develop is a large part of being a general manager. It's not always wheeling, dealing and making trades; it's taking the scouting information and using your own discerning eye to say, "This is a goalie who is capable of winning 30 games a year for the next five years." 

Holland has not demonstrated an eye for the future in his recent dealings. The addition of Zach Hyman was a very good move, but he's put together a blue line that can't move the puck up to the forwards and a forward lineup that can't generate offense without McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice. Holland brought in Evander Kane, which was not the most popular choice given his history of problems on and off the ice. 

Kane, like Woodcroft, can't stop the puck. The best thing Holland could have done to set this team up for success would have been to acquire a true No. 1 goaltender over the summer. And it's worth noting he hasn't done anything to address the issue since the season started, except acquiring Alex Stalock, who is unable to play because of a heart condition. 

The luster has worn off of the general manager who was once lauded for winning three Stanley Cup championships with the Detroit Red Wings. It's possible the game has passed him by. Holland himself seems flummoxed as he continues to say, "This is how we did things in Detroit."

Well, this isn't Detroit, and this isn't 2008. 

When Holland took the Red Wings reins from Scotty Bowman in 1997, he inherited a winning culture. It was a seamless transition for a young assistant GM like Holland who had already been with the organization. 

This is a much different challenge. This is an organization that has not seen a whole lot of stability since 2006, when Edmonton last reached the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers are synonymous with chaos, and switching things up with another head coach isn't exactly helping. The best thing Holland can do now is give Woodcroft time by keeping him in place through next season to establish some semblance of consistency. 

To be fair, this isn't how Holland always operates. Tippett is the first coach he has ever fired midseason. But in other ways, he's still operating the same, handing out bad contracts and failing to properly project talent. 

Coaches are hired to be fired, and Tippett was no different. Something had to change because the Oilers cannot keep wasting the best years of McDavid and Draisaitl, but Edmonton is no closer to contending with Woodcroft than it was with Tippett. 

Holland had a chance to right the ship months ago, and he didn't. This move is too little, too late.