The Edmonton Oilers are making a big change.
The Oilers announced Monday they’ve fired head coach Dallas Eakins. The 47-year-old first-time NHL coach is in just his second season with the team after being hired prior to last season.
Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish addressed the media a little more than a week ago and vowed — at the time, at least — that Eakins’ job was safe.
“He’s evolving,” MacTavish said at the time. “We’ve changed assistant coaches. We’ve brought in co-coaches. We’ve brought in former head coaches. THose coaches were all delivering the same message and we need a higher level of execution (by the players).”
Eakins’ dismissal comes after just 113 games behind the Edmonton bench. The Oilers went just 36-63-14 under the head coach and looks to have taken steps backwards after high hopes accompanied his hiring. At the time of the dismissal, the Oilers have lost four in a row and 15 of their last 16. Edmonton was just 1-15-4 vs. Western Conference teams this season.
The Oilers haven’t yet announced Eakins’ replacement, but MacTavish is scheduled to meet the media at 1:45 p.m. ET.
UPDATE (4:15 p.m.): The interim head coach will be none other than MacTavish, the team announced this afternoon. The GM will take over in the short-term before handing things off to Todd Nelson, who is being promoted to interim head coach from Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City.
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Thumbnail photo via Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports Images
