Monday Mailbag – How is Dave Tippett different than Todd McLellan?

What have we here? A brand new mailbag for a brand new week! I hope all of you had an excellent practice retirement and that you came into this Monday refreshed and recharged. With everyone back at work for another week, I wanted to put together something to read and help you kill off a few minutes of company time and ease yourselves into this Monday. As always, I’ve sent your wonderings out to the writers and waited for all of their worldly wisdom to come back to me. I still need questions for next week, so if there is something Oilers related (or not) that you want to ask, feel free to hit me up by email or on Twitter. Enjoy.

He said all the right things, which is to be expected. Ultimately it will depend on what the lineup looks like when training camp opens. If he has a few different wingers and RD, then the team will be better. How much will Koskinen improve over the summer is the main focus. If he, and the new backup are better, then Tippett will reap the rewards.

It was as I expected. Tippett tells it straight. He’s honest without being preachy. He makes his expectations clear without being heavy-handed. He is on the same page as Ken Holland, and that’s a big positive.

Just like the Ken Holland presser, the Dave Tippett one was very well done. In each of their introductory press conferences, they said things that the fan base was waiting to hear. Did it give me hope? A little bit. Am I still nervous about next season? Of course. One press conference isn’t going to change that. I liked what Tippett said about analytics and there were some interesting things said about defensemen as well but at the end of the day, I need to see results before I start giving credit.

Yeah thought it went well. I’m drinking all the Kool-Aid I can right now so anything him and Holland say I’ll eat right up.

I liked what he was saying and am fully ready to buy in. That said, we’ve been hurt before so I’m approaching the season with cautious optimism. After a lifetime as an Oilers fan, it’s the best I can do right now.

No, it doesn’t mean that. Hitch is more of a hard-ass, no question, but he had a lot of success. But coaching was not the reason Oilers were bad. McLellan was not a task master and was considered a player’s coach as well. Tippett might be more so, but a lack of talent is the main reason this team missed playoffs, again. If Tippett has the exact same roster, then he will be hard pressed to get them in the playoffs.

I don’t think it suggests any such thing. Hitchcock communicates very well, but he’s such a stickler for detail that he can wear on players, particularly young ones. He can be overly negative when things go badly. McLellan and Tippett are much alike in tone.

I don’t think it was really an issue with McLellan but I am happy that the Oilers brought in a coach who has a history of being a good “players coach.” For me, that’s the sign of a coach who can stay around on a long-term basis. Hitchcock can get a lot out of teams for a short stint, but he isn’t the type of coach who can hang around for four or five years. I think Tippett can be successful as the Oilers for a long period of time and he’s proven that during his lengthy stints in Dallas and Arizona.

Yeah definitely. We’ve got a team full of millennials and having more of a players coach might be a refreshing change in the dressing room.

I’ve heard that McLellan could be a little bit grumpy with the players if they weren’t able to figure things out as he expected them to, but I’ve also heard that he was a good communicator. At the end of the day, what the hell do I know? Some of Tippett’s former players said nice things about him so I’ll just go ahead and assume that it’s a thing.

Good. We all know they need changes. I expect we will see a total of 7-8 different players on the roster next year. they need a backup goalie, two different defenders, some forwards and I could see Jones and another young player make the team.

I’d expect nothing less. I bet he makes at least one trade during draft week. He’s very active communicating with other GM’s at the draft.

Well, I would hope so. It’s the offseason and it’s a very important offseason for the organization. I would really hope that Ken Holland isn’t sitting on his hands and waiting around for a few weeks. Good to see that he’s getting to work.

What’s not to love about that? Holland started doing work the minute he got hired. The summer’s going to come to an end very quickly so he’s gotta get to work.

If he didn’t start working the phones then I’d be deeply concerned about why the team is paying him $5 million. He needs to put the work in to make sure that they have more than three players that can score.

Improve puck moving ability among the top-four right defencemen. Until this team can move the puck out quicker ,and up the middle of the ice, they will struggle. Improved puck movement will lead to less time defending which will help cut down goals against.

I think this has been asked in one form or another and answered multiple times during the last month, no? Scoring depth on the wings. A d-man, preferably a right shot, who can move the puck. Another goaltender.

Finding a handful of good, NHL forwards. They need two top-six wingers and a solid third line centre. They already have six NHL calibre defensemen and while it would be nice to go out and grab a stud, top four, puck moving d-man, I think the bigger need is up front. They need to find a way to score more goals and create lines that don’t get buried at even strength.

He’s got to free up cap space, add some forward depth, and if he can, add a highly skilled top-six winger to play with Nuge.

The Oilers need forwards that can score. Last year, they got 61% of their goals from four people (McDavid, Draisaitl, Nuge, and Chiasson) and that can’t happen again. It’s tough to build a house with three nails and a handful of jellybeans.

My son loves going to the demolition derby. We will go to three or four this summer, and we spend many hours at our family farm, which reminds me of my late father. Growing up on the farm, we didn’t go camping very often. Most of my best memories were just working and playing with my family at the farm, and I like introducing my son to the same things.

Now, as when I was growing up, road trips. Enjoy getting out on the road and seeing what’s out there. Driving the Pacific Coast Highway to California, that sort of thing. Spending time in the Okanagan. In and around town, hitting every classic car event we can.

Since I was about 15, my father and I have made it a habit to get out to the mountains for a quick golf trip every summer. Nothing better than fresh mountain air, a round of golf, no distractions, and quality time with the old man.

Camping has to be the highlight with my family. It’s continued to be a staple of my summers and I definitely want to continue the tradition.

I used to go camping with my dad ALL the time and I loved it. We went fishing, tubing, hiking, and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. Even now, in my 30s, I still love camping with my old man so I hope you and your son had an excellent weekend together.