We’ve been through all of the player adds from the summer, and we have found out some interesting things. There’s lots of excitement around guys like Perron, Ference, Nurse and Gordon, and rightfully so. However, the biggest impact move could be behind the bench. Ralph Krueger was fired in June and Dallas Eakins, the former head coach of the Toronto Marlies, was brought in.
He’s the young hot-shot new kid on the block, the unknown from the minor leagues. Everyone wanted to at least talk to the guy, so that tells you everything you need to know.
First thing is first. Dallas Eakins is a fitness freak. The guy is in great shape and runs marathons and such for fun. He wants his guys in great shape, and he keeps HIMSELF in great shape too. It’s a small detail, but Eakins works hard and values conditioning and fitness big time, and the Oilers will be valuing that more than ever this year too.
The culture in Edmonton is changing too. Eakins took down all the pictures of the former Oilers teams and replaced them with pictures of the current players. He cited that it’s no longer about the past, and that it’s about the present in Edmonton. He’s publicly stated this it’s no longer rebuild time in Edmonton and the young team excuse won’t fly anymore. The excuses are gone. It’s time to put up or shut up and Eakins is letting that be known. There’s a new, accountable, culture in Edmonton, and that is much needed.
Eakins works well with young players too. He did excellent work with Leafs breakout star Nazem Kadri in the AHL, and took a player who a lot were ready to call and bust and prepare him for a great season. He worked well with guys like Joe Coulborne, Ryan Hamilton, Jake Gardner, and many others. He prepared these guys for the NHL, and almost all of them have been decently successful at the next level.
He’s a guy that holds accountability and who works well with young players. He clearly has expectations and wants his teams to work on a different level of hard. It’s refreshing to hear him talk too, just the way he speaks and what he says, it’s like a breath of fresh air after the same old same old in Edmonton.
In terms of play style, it’s going to be different from last year. With all due respect to Ralph Krueger, his team last year played to not lose more than they did to win. You’ll never be successful doing that. Krueger also played a style which simply is not used in the NHL with the way the team swarmed the puck and what they did after certain zone draw wins.
It became clear that the style used wasn’t good for the team, and with Eakins the Oilers get a more NHL-style game.
How exactly will he coach? Well it sure looks like he is going to lean more on his horses, the top six forwards. I expect we see Hall, RNH, Eberle, Yakupov, Gagner and Perron play an enhanced role time wise this year. I think we see the fourth line much less too, and that the third line plays a lot of defensive zone time.
The forward deployment will allow for the impact players to get more time and make more things happen. It’s something everyone talked about last year needing to happen.
Defensively, we’ll see some changes too. The defensive structure was a little different under Krueger, and I think we see it go back to the comfort zone of this roster this year. Eakins has lots of options and will be able to role three pairings evenly. Considering Edmonton doesn’t really have a number one, this is best case scenario.
Overall, the Oilers seem to have found their general in the locker room. A hard working guy that is a no BS, no excuses person. The culture is truly finally changing in Edmonton and the system looks to be too, to a system that fits with the roster a little bit better.
For the first time in a long time, there are some real expectations in Edmonton, a turning of the page of sorts. Oilers fans everywhere should be excited by that.
With a new system and a new set of expectations, everyone is getting a clean slate in Edmonton. That new culture and new slate could lead to some great things this year. It might not have been the sexiest move Edmonton made this summer, but the move to hire Dallas Eakins could turn out to be the one with the best impact on the team.
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