This hiring is great one many levels, another guy to scout pro ranks, another hockey opinion in trades and drafts, another guy who will have a say and act as resource for a new coach. I dont think his poition will have a negative affect on any coach coming in. MacT will have too much on his plate to worry about going back to coaching. Tambi however…

I do remember MacT having alot of influence on names he felt fit holes that needed to be filled. Samsonov and Roli were two. Peca. He told KLowe to go all in for Pronger. After seeing a certain defenceman he called Tambi and told them to sign a guy named Fedun. He is a pretty good judge of what defined part a team needs and who in the league fits that mould RIGHT NOW. I am not too sure how his vision is with determining prospectual talent but lets just say other than Dan Cleary (who MacT tried to convince us would be a great 3rd liner and we all yelled back that cleary was far too gifted for that) not many of his scratched players or burials have come back to haunt us. Brodziak is another guy seeing results in a role MacT saw in him.

Im glad to see him back and was always surprised he got no other coaching job in the NHL. I think he will do well here. Despite my hatred of the ol’ boys club… this move gets my support. Also i dont want to see a rookie NHL coach but i am sure MacT will have alot of say in who the next coach will be and be a resource if it is someone who doesnt have NHL experience. I feel better with him being part of the team that makes that decision.

A final thought is that from a M.R. perspective…this is great news for all beat guys and the Oilers. MacT is a classy guy who is never dull. He has a pretty long fuse too which i know for fact, the edmonton press do not forget. Personally i dont think many average fans know how press friendly the oilers are and that may have to change. If it does, the Oilers will be lucky they have MacT to shield players from the hours of interviews night after night. If that translates to Jordan Eberle getting an extra 30 minutes to focus and stretch and score 3 extra goals a season because he doesnt need to be available for 5 intervies before a game…than great. I think part of the MacT hiring has got to be the need for a guy who can speak clearly for the organization on a consistent basis to the media and fans instead of disappearing.

If a guy like AHL coach cooper, from the Tampa Farm club, has a chance at getting an NHL job it stands to reason that having a couple NHL coaches above you, in KLowe and MacT, might be a good resource.