New Jersey Devils Assistant Adam Oates Takes Washington Capitals Head Coach Job

According to NJ.com, New Jersey Devils assistant coach Adam Oates has accepted the head coaching job with the Washington Capitals.

Oates spent two seasons in New Jersey, helping the Devils reach the Stanley Cup Final for the fifth time in team history this past season. He also played 19 years in the NHL, recording 1,420 career points for seven teams.

While not many assistants will make the headlines for a team's success, Oates was certainly a key reason why the Devils made such a drastic offensive improvement. Along with head coach Pete DeBoer, Oates took a New Jersey team ranked 30th in the league in scoring and turned them into one of the best fore-checking teams in the NHL toward the end of the year.

According to Tom Gulitti, Oates was very popular because of his attention to detail and he worked very closely with captain Zach Parise to improve his game. David Clarkson also praised Oates' work ethic, and the advice Oates gave him to shorten his stick lead to a career-best year in goals.

Oates will certainly help the Capitals regain their offensive form, especially now that Dale Hunter's defensive scheme is out of the picture. Washington has one of the best scorers in Alex Ovechkin, and the aggressive offensive game plan of Oates should help him find his game again.

The Devils will surely miss Oates and his great relationship with the players, especially while New Jersey is in a heated negotiation to re-sign Parise before the July 1 deadline. It is not certain that Parise will leave now that Oates is gone, but it could definitely hurt their chances now that a player favorite is coaching elsewhere.

There is no word on who will replace Oates on the bench for next season, but the Devils do enjoy bringing back former players or coaches to assist the team (Stevens, Robinson, Terreri, MacLean). Right now the focus will be on free agency, but it will be hard to replace someone who made such an impact on the players.

Interestingly enough, the Devils will open up the 2012-2013 regular season against the Capitals on October 12th.