The Edmonton Oilers will have a new head coach next season, as general manager Steve Tambellini announced that Tom Renney will not return in for 2012-13.
Renney - who joined the Edmonton staff as an associate head coach in 2009 before taking the top job in 2010 - had a 57-85-22 record in his two seasons as head coach of the Oilers, missing the playoffs both this season and last. In 592 games as an NHL head coach with the Vancouver Canucks, the New York Rangers and the Oilers, Renney has a record of 260 wins, 255 losses, nine ties in his pre-lockout stint with the Canucks, and 68 overtime and shootout losses with the Rangers and Oilers. Edmonton, meanwhile, hasn't made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2006, when they advanced to the Stanley Cup
Finals before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The silver lining to Edmonton's run of losing seasons is that the Oilers have been stockpiling talent lately, as they'll pick first overall in next month's NHL Draft, their third consecutive year with the top overall selection. The Oilers got 50-point seasons from both 2010 top pick Taylor Hall and 2011 first choice Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, despited the fact that they played just 61 and 62 games , respectively. Meanwhile, Jordan Eberle, Edmonton's first-round pick from 2008, is a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy after scoring 34 goals and handing out 42 assists while taking just five minor penalties in 78 games.
Tambellini credited Renney with doing "some great things for our hockey club," but acknowledged that a change is necessary. Renney is known as a great teacher - something that undoubtedly helped youngsters like Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins - and he is capable of guiding a team with veteran talent and leadership, as he did during his tenure in New York. However, the Rangers have found greater success and direction under the guidance of the fiery John Tortorella, and the Oilers may be looking for a similar type of motivator as they look to bring in a new head coach.
Tambellini plans to have a new head coach in place by the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh on June 22 and 23, and that coach will consult on the fates of assistant coaches Ralph Krueger, Steve Smith, Kelly Buchberger and Frederic Chabot. Chabot, the goalie coach, completed his third year with the Oilers, while Krueger, Smith and Buchberger have been with the organization for one, two and four years, respectively.