Report: Oilers finalizing three-year contract with head coach Jay Woodcroft
The Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of naming Jay Woodcroft their permanent head coach, according to reports by Kevin Weekes and Bob Stauffer.
Woodcroft, 45, replaced Dave Tippett behind the Oilers’ bench with 38 games remaining in the 2021–22 regular season. The interim bench boss led the team to a 26–9–3 record down the stretch before helping them reach the Western Conference Final, where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in four games.
Before Woodcroft took over, the Oilers sat outside a playoff spot with a 23–18–3 record. According to the report, Woodcroft’s new deal will carry a three-year term.
**Breaking News** 🚨 📰 .
It’s a developing and fluid situation, but I’m told @EdmontonOilers are close to signing HC Jay Woodcroft to a 3 Yr Deal. @NHL #HockeyTwitter pic.twitter.com/QamZbxs23t
Woodcroft entered the NHL as a video coach with the Detroit Red Wings in 2005–06, winning the Stanley Cup with the team two seasons later.
He joined the San Jose Sharks as an assistant coach under Todd McLellan in 2008, spending seven seasons in the Bay Area before moving to Edmonton with McLellan in 2015.
After serving as an assistant coach in Edmonton for three seasons, Woodcroft was named head coach of the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in 2018. The Oilers promoted Woodcroft to lead their NHL bench midway through his fourth season with the Condors.
The Oilers finished the 2021–22 regular season as the No. 2-seeded team in the Pacific Division, ending up with a 49–27–6 record and 104 points.
Edmonton defeated the Los Angeles Kings and the Calgary Flames in the first two rounds of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs before being swept by the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.