Todd McLellan, right, and Peter Chiarelli, President of Hockey Operations and General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers, attend a press conference after the Oilers announced McLellan as their new head coach in Edmonton, Alta., on Tuesday May 19, 2015.The Canadian Press
The latest in a series of narrative-changing moves to restore the Edmonton Oilers' tarnished legacy occurred Tuesday afternoon, when the NHL team made it official.
Todd McLellan is their new coach, the 13th in franchise history. McLellan replaces the interim man, Todd Nelson, who replaced Dallas Eakins mid-season, with the Oilers sinking fast in the Western Conference standings.
In all, the Oilers have had seven coaches since Craig MacTavish was replaced at the end of the 2009 season, a level of instability that contributed to nine consecutive years out of the playoffs and counting.
McLellan also missed the playoffs this past season, but it is the only time in a coaching career that began with the 1994-95 Swift Current Broncos that has occurred. After stops in junior and minor pro, McLellan spent three years as an assistant to Mike Babcock in Detroit, a span in which no NHL team earned more points (352) or won more games (162).
As an NHL head coach, McLellan was the second fastest in history, after Bruce Boudreau, to 300 regular-season wins and had a .637 winning percentage in his seven years with the Sharks, which included one President's Trophy, three 50-plus win seasons and two trips to the Western Conference final.
Most recently, McLellan was behind the bench went Canada went a perfect 10-0 to win the world hockey championships in Prague, a team that also included two of the best young Oilers' players, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.
McLellan's appointment was announced by the Oilers' new general manager Peter Chiarelli, who has been on the job less than a month. The two did most of their negotiations during the world championships. Also within the last six weeks, the Oilers won the draft lottery for the fourth time in six years and now have the right to select Connor McDavid first overall during the upcoming June NHL entry draft.
So a lot has changed for the better in Edmonton since the regular season ended.
McLellan called McDavid a special player.
"He has a special skill set that fans are going to enjoy for a long time, but he's still a young man," McLellan said. "He's learned to deal with an intense amount of pressure, but that's at the junior level. It's going to change when he gets to the National Hockey League. It's our job to make sure we get the most out of him in a real good environment.
"One of the things I did in Prague was spend some time with Sidney and I asked him what it was like as a young 18-year-old coming up that way and some of the hardships he may have had or didn't have; and some of the things he appreciated from his teammates or the organization that allowed him to blossom. It's tough to be that player in this world, especially in a Canadian market, but Connor will be fine. He'll get what he needs from the Oilers' organization, the coaching staff and his teammates. And he is just one piece on the team. It's going to be about the whole, not individuals, and that's how we're going to approach it."
McLellan said his primary goal was to help the Oilers get back on the winning track.
"It fit for what I want to look for in the future as a coach – young players craving to win," he said. "Having spent some time with Jordan and Taylor, it was clear we would have some good days ahead of us. They won't all be great … There will be painful days ahead for all of us. We know that.
"But for me, your gut tells you when it's right – and the people; and that convinced me this was the right spot for myself and my family."
Chiarelli described McLellan as someone with "a wealth of experience, a level of energy and an intellect I haven't seen in a long time.
"I'm very impressed with him. I'd been very impressed with his teams, in Detroit and in San Jose. Both those teams, how they play, with the personnel they had, they know how to play hard – and Todd's one of the main reasons for that, for instilling confidence, energy and discipline in those teams."
McLellan's playing career was limited to two seasons, spent mostly in the minors for the New York Islanders' affiliate in Springfield, before a shoulder injury ended his career.
McLellan noted how unusual this situation was – that both he and Chiarelli are new in Edmonton, learning the strengths and weaknesses of the organization together.
"We're both in it together, brand new, without any preconceived notions. Everybody gets a fresh start."