Sunday: Sportsnet’s John Shannon tweets that the Edmonton Oilers have officially hired Coffey as their Skills Development Coach. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug adds that the hiring of Coffey is not meant to be a quick fix to save the Oilers season or fix their special teams play. Rather the hiring is more about the long-term development of young talent, particularly on defense.
Saturday: It looks like the Edmonton Oilers are looking into digging into the 1980’s well as TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Oilers are talking to Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey to return to the organization. While the details of the role that Coffey might play within the Oilers franchise is sketchy, McKenzie suggests the team could be looking to add him to head coach Todd McLellan’s staff.
McKenzie adds that once an agreement is in place, issues like what role he will play and the degree of Coffey’s involvement will be “a work in progress.” The 56-year-old Coffey finished his career having played in 1,409 games with 396 goals and 1,531 points. A three-time Norris Trophy winner, Coffey played seven years in Edmonton before moving on to play with several other teams, including the Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes and the Boston Bruins before retiring after the 2000-01 season.
He has little coaching experience as he only coached one year in the Ontario Junior Hockey League for the Pickering Panthers, a team he co-owns. However, many have suggested he might be valuable working with defensemen and could be a good fit in Edmonton with their defensive struggles.
Sheesh he’s 56? Seems like yesterday he was in Pittsburgh