If they are smart they'll move PoolParty and Yamamoto for veteran help the day before they ink Tippett's contract. Otherwise, I'm not sure how I'll be wrong.
Can Edmonton make the playoffs under Tippett if they give him a free hand? Sure. They have a top heavy experienced roster already, don't need to develop it, and he can find the garbage to plug the gaps without eating a lot of cap space. Just based on the strength of McD, Drai, RNH available at center, we could say "sure" about any coach potentially getting the roster to the playoffs.
Will he have better buy in from the squad as it sits today? Strongly doubt Tippett gets more commitment than Hitch did. Here's where the Oilers are according to the third winningest coach in NHL history: I don’t have the answers, but we can’t play this way and actually expect to win hockey games. Not at this time of year. Quite frankly, not ever. Maybe in an exhibition game.”
“At this time of year the coaches can’t want it more than the players.”
Hitchcock has a much better resume, is able to make adjustments on the fly, has more patience, and is cut from the exact same cloth. So if the new GM doesn't turn the page and make some improvements, we're not going to see much difference under Tippett.
They give even less #'s than the Coyotes do, and it's a problem here, too. The proof is in the standings on a team with two great C's and another thin roster decimated by injuries, and the decade of suck they cannot scrub their hands clean of, like hockey's Lady MacBeth no matter how much raw talent they add. They are picking at 8 after dropping a spot with McDavid and Drai and the third winningest coach in NHL history. We're at 14 with injuries and a coach trying to rehab his career.
So either, 1) look for Brodziak to have a career resurgence, Khiara to find favour, and for a few other guys to completely fall off the map as Tippett brings in his guys and crushes people who don't fit his mould. McDavid and Drai can carry them if they and the goaltending get hot, which is absolutely something he didn't have here. He can get to the playoffs and hope for the best from the best player in the league for a few years. And then he'll hit his shelf life and the team's cupboard will be bare.
Or 2) they don't give him free reign and he won't be able to successfully adjust, and the players petition the front office/ownership in a mutiny, and he gets turfed by players and inept leadership who need a fall guy.
Or 3) they Old Boy's Club just got done with dealing with Hitch, saw how it went for them and the players, look at Tippett's coup, and realize hiring him is a bigger headache than it's worth when what they really want is a yes man/scapegoat.
I'd put the odds at 12-8-80 respectively.
