Player Discussion Jay Woodcroft

[Del Preston]

The Oilers have been 2nd in the entire NHL in HDCF% at 58.13% and 6th in the league in XGF% at 54.78% since Woody has taken over, and this has included some of our toughest stretch of games against some of the best of the best like Florida, Carolina, Tampa etc. Obviously the special teams could use some work but Woodcroft has us playing some damn good hockey 5v5 both eye test wise and analytically.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Freakin' right eh Oiler fans. Things are looking up!

 

[McCombo]

I think it has been at least around three games that trio of defensemen used in the PP are Barrie, Bouchard and Keith. Barrie and Bouchard sure belong there with their skillset. Using Keith over Nurse makes sense, as it frees more minutes for Nurse to play 5vs5. PPQB isn't really Nurse's strength either. Though the 2nd PP unit doesn't get that many minutes either.

I would say that is smart coaching. But further more questions the deal that Holland gave to Nurse. I think there is one other 9+ mil defensemen (current or upcoming caphit) that isn't slam dunk to play on the powerplay. PK Subban.

 

[Mr Positive]

I think it has been at least around three games that trio of defensemen used in the PP are Barrie, Bouchard and Keith. Barrie and Bouchard sure belong there with their skillset. Using Keith over Nurse makes sense, as it frees more minutes for Nurse to play 5vs5. PPQB isn't really Nurse's strength either. Though the 2nd PP unit doesn't get that many minutes either.

I would say that is smart coaching. But further more questions the deal that Holland gave to Nurse. I think there is one other 9+ mil defensemen (current or upcoming caphit) that isn't slam dunk to play on the powerplay. PK Subban.

Part of that begs the question, is it important for a #1 Dman to be your PP guy too? Nurse has proven he can do it. It's just nicer for the team to use his minutes elsewhere. In terms of total minutes, Nurse is #4 in the whole league. He is used a ton on the Oilers because he is our best defenseman by far.

Edit: I suppose I would be curious about Nurse's minutes just under Woodcroft but I dont expect a seismic shift

 

[joestevens29]

Part of that begs the question, is it important for a #1 Dman to be your PP guy too? Nurse has proven he can do it. It's just nicer for the team to use his minutes elsewhere. In terms of total minutes, Nurse is #4 in the whole league. He is used a ton on the Oilers because he is our best defenseman by far.

Edit: I suppose I would be curious about Nurse's minutes just under Woodcroft but I dont expect a seismic shift

It really is a double edge sword. Sometimes having success offensively can give a guy more drive to better with his other minutes, but if he doesn't get that success now you are just playing him even more.

For us as a whole the main thing we need is Nurse to be successful at 5 on 5.

 

[McCombo]

Part of that begs the question, is it important for a #1 Dman to be your PP guy too? Nurse has proven he can do it. It's just nicer for the team to use his minutes elsewhere. In terms of total minutes, Nurse is #4 in the whole league. He is used a ton on the Oilers because he is our best defenseman by far.

Edit: I suppose I would be curious about Nurse's minutes just under Woodcroft but I dont expect a seismic shift

Agree that he is the best defensemen Oilers have. And sure there are top pair, maybe even few #1 Dmen who are better suited to play more 5on5 than PP. Slavin comes to mind, though he could be playing on PP2. Adam Pelech certainly doesn't play PP. But if those 1st pairing guys aren't PP guys, they very rarely are producing tons of points. And points are the #1 thing that drives cap hit's high. More defensive minded guys aren't getting 9+mil deals.

We could have different opinions on this but I don't think Nurse is elite defensively. He has always high-event guy both ways. Has had troubles denying controlled zone entries most of his career (bad gap control) etc. He isn't elite in the offensive zone either, very limited toolbox with the puck. I would say he is close to elite when transporting the puck thru the neutral zone. And when fighting.

He is tied 70th place among defensemen in 5on5 scoring with fourteen points, 14 ! With players like Ian Cole, Justin Braun, Adam Larsson, Cody Ceci, Nikita Zadorov etc. So why are we exactly paying him 9.25mil from next season onwards? The answer is below.

15-16 2.5%
16-17 5.88%
17-18 3.09%
18-19 5.1%
19-20 2.9%
20-21 10.4%
21-22 3.6%

And then you can ask a question how on earth can a veteran GM make such a stupid decision. He could have waited to sign Nurse, there was no rush and everyone and their dog knew that Nurse can't keep that kind of shooting percentage going for long. That was a massive outlier year for him.

What comes to Woodcroft, I really hope he succeeds. It would also be nice if we got modern mindset to GM position too. Seems to be working in the coaching position at least.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

3:12

Woodcroft reflecting on his own distribution of ice time amongst the lines and being his own critic is something I don’t think I ever saw Tippett do. I like that he takes ownership for his own mistakes.

 

[Del Preston]

12-5-1 through his first 18.

 

[Cloned]

12-5-1 through his first 18.

Not sure what’s less surprising. How good Woodcroft has been or how bad Tippett was.

 

[Cloned]

3:12

Woodcroft reflecting on his own distribution of ice time amongst the lines and being his own critic is something I don’t think I ever saw Tippett do. I like that he takes ownership for his own mistakes.

Nice catch

Also somehow he turned Terry Jones into a competent, lucid reporter again.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

3:12

Woodcroft reflecting on his own distribution of ice time amongst the lines and being his own critic is something I don’t think I ever saw Tippett do. I like that he takes ownership for his own mistakes.

Woodcroft reads HFOil confirmed. "Trying to move some pieces around the chessboard". He definitely saw the post @94 Oil Drops put up after the Buffalo game.

Woodcroft is such an intelligent hockey coach. Talking about wanting to sink their teeth into the opposition right off the start, his own self analysis during the game, taking advice from his staff. He had me at "hello".

 

[GOilers88]

3:12

Woodcroft reflecting on his own distribution of ice time amongst the lines and being his own critic is something I don’t think I ever saw Tippett do. I like that he takes ownership for his own mistakes.

Really enjoy listening to his pressers. Seems like a very smart, level headed guy. Self aware. Thinks about what he wants to say before he says it without just resorting to cliches.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Really enjoy listening to his pressers. Seems like a very smart, level headed guy. Self aware. Thinks about what he wants to say before he says it without just resorting to cliches.

He definitely has an analytical mind the way he processes the media's questions as they're being asked. Tippett looked like he was waiting for the prune juice to kick in half the time.

 

[Del Preston]

Tippett's 44 games vs Woodcroft's first 20:

5-on-5 scoring
Tippett: outscored the opposition 13 times, got outscored 20 times, and tied 11 times
Woodcroft: outscored the opposition 14 times, been outscored in 5 times, and tied once

Without McDavid and Draisaitl
Tippett: outscored 49-30 (-19)
Woodcroft: outscored 17-13 (-4)

Power Play
Tippett: 27.6% (3rd)
Woodcroft: 19.1% (22nd)

Penalty Kill
Tippett: 76.7% (t-23rd)
Woodcroft: 74.3% (26th)

Tippett's special teams were excellent in October and November (20 games): the PP was 1st (37.7%), and the PK was t-4th (87.1%). From December 1st until his firing on February 10th (24 games), the PP was ranked 25th (17.7%), and the PK was 31st (67.2%).

 

[joestevens29]

Really enjoy listening to his pressers. Seems like a very smart, level headed guy. Self aware. Thinks about what he wants to say before he says it without just resorting to cliches.

The thing I mentioned a while ago is this probably comes from being in the AHL.

You have to be smarter about what you say down there. You are generally talking about younger players and you really don't want to send out a message that hurts their confidence. So you come up with new unique ways of explaining things.

 

[brentashton]

Really enjoy listening to his pressers. Seems like a very smart, level headed guy. Self aware. Thinks about what he wants to say before he says it without just resorting to cliches.

I really miss hearing about ”we were chasing the game”….NOT!

 

[5 14 6 1]

Tippett's 44 games vs Woodcroft's first 20:

5-on-5 scoring
Tippett: outscored the opposition 13 times, got outscored 20 times, and tied 11 times
Woodcroft: outscored the opposition 14 times, been outscored in 5 times, and tied once

Without McDavid and Draisaitl
Tippett: outscored 49-30 (-19)
Woodcroft: outscored 17-13 (-4)

Power Play
Tippett: 27.6% (3rd)
Woodcroft: 19.1% (22nd)

Penalty Kill
Tippett: 76.7% (t-23rd)
Woodcroft: 74.3% (26th)

Tippett's special teams were excellent in October and November (20 games): the PP was 1st (37.7%), and the PK was t-4th (87.1%). From December 1st until his firing on February 10th (24 games), the PP was ranked 25th (17.7%), and the PK was 31st (67.2%).

We desperately need to figure out special teams..

 

[AddyTheWrath]

 

[Fourier]

There is literally no reason to outthink themselves on this one.

 

[Oilhawks]

Agree that it’s likely a “matter of time” as well. Playoff results will likely determine term and annual salary. Would guess that both parties want to see how that plays out first

 

[rec28]

There is literally no reason to outthink themselves on this one.

… which is precisely what they’re going to do.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

For those who may not know, that is McDavid's agent responding. Sign Woodcroft and Manson. Don't overthink it.

 

[Del Preston]

Here are the final numbers for Tippett (44 games) and Woodcroft (38).

5-on-5:

Overall goals for/against and special teams:

Without McDavid or Draisaitl on the ice:

Tippett: outscored 49-30 (-19)
Woodcroft: outscored 31-28 (-3)

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Tippett: "Be better, work harder"
Woodcroft: "Here are the ways you can improve"

 

[Nameless]

Woodcroft was on 119 points, +87 pace.

Really impressive.