It’s official. Ex-San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan will be the new head coach of the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers are a team that has been known to have its struggles in the regular season and in terms of making the playoffs. This past season, Edmonton finished with a record of 24-44-14 which was good enough for sixth in the Pacific Division, and 28th in the League.
There’s no doubt McLellan was a great coach in his seven-year stint with San Jose. He had an overall record of 311-163-66, and had never missed the postseason until this past season. He is also the franchise leader in wins, games coached with 540 and points percentage (.637).
But McLellan also couldn’t deliver the Sharks to the top of the mountain.
The Sharks won the President’s Trophy in his first season with the club, but subsequently lost to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs that year. While McLellan led the Sharks to back-to-back Western Conference finals appearances in 2010 and 2011, San Jose won only one game in nine attempts.
Finally, and most painfully for Sharks fans, McLellan was at the helm of last season’s playoff collapse at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings that likely created the divide within the organization. That loss will likely haunt McLellan and this franchise for years to come.
McLellan also coached Team Canada in this year’s World Hockey Championships in Prague, leading them to the first gold medal since 2007 in a 6-1 rout against Team Russia and finishing the tournament with a perfect 10-0 record.
With McLellan’s job in Edmonton officially sealed, the Sharks continue their search for a new head coach. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be hard to replace him.