BLOG: Stuart a fit for Woodcroft's evolving assistant profile

EDMONTON, AB - Head Coach Jay Woodcroft set out on his search for an assistant coach earlier this summer hoping to add another valuable voice to his Oilers coaching staff.
Throughout the process of interviewing a number of potential candidates, eventually landing on the hiring of former 12-year NHL veteran Mark Stuart, Woodcroft took the opportunity to further improve his own craft as his profile for the perfect fit for the position slowly came together.
"First of all, I enjoy the process of bringing new people into the organization or onboarding them," he said, speaking with Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer on Monday afternoon. "I think through that process, it makes me a better coach because I get to talk to a lot of really different people from different backgrounds and talk to a lot of really learned hockey people that have different approaches to the game."
There's only going to be one successful hire, but each interview with every potential candidate for the job gives an important glimpse into how the game is coached in different ways -- something the 46-year-old enjoys about the process of onboarding a new coach for his coaching staff.
"I can't hire them all, but I learn a lot in the process of how different teams are approaching things, different types of player development situations that pop up in different areas, and just how people approach it," he said. "I love to look at that process of onboarding someone as an opportunity to learn."

In comparison to the start of Woodcroft's search for a new assistant coach to replace the departed Brian Wiseman, the finished profile for the type of talent he'd have liked to bring in might have looked a lot different.
"What I learned during the process of hiring Mark was the more I went through the process and the more I talked to coaches that wanted the job, I really felt that I found a profile of what I was looking for," he said.

Already in the fold for the Oilers on the bench, you have Glen Gulutzan -- a coach for 20 years who plays an important role in setting up the club's power play and has been the head coach for two NHL teams in Dallas Stars (2011-13) and Calgary Flames (2016-18) to go along to seven seasons in the League as an assistant following head-coaching roles at the ECHL and AHL levels.
Dave Manson, often referred to by Woodcroft as 'his left tackle' covering his blindside over four seasons with the Bakersfield Condors and their first in Edmonton together during the '21-22 NHL season, is a veteran of over 1,200 NHL games and is a valuable presence for the club's budding blueline.
Dustin Schwartz is returning for his ninth season as Oilers Goaltending Coach, while Video Coach Jeremy Coupal is back for his seventh season in Edmonton. The team's video department will expand this season, with Noah Segall being hired as a Video Coordinator.
As the process of hiring an assistant coach to round out his coaching staff went on, Woodcroft thought that an individual with experience as an NHL player would be a strong fit for the dynamic he's developing behind the Oilers bench.

"For me, I thought if you look at the complexion of our staff as it is, the one thing that I wanted to add was another former NHL hockey player and someone not too far removed from playing at the highest level," he said. "Someone who spoke the language of today's player, someone who can relate to the pressures that today's player goes through, but not someone who just immediately retired from the game -- someone who's put their time in, worked in the coaching profession and was willing to pay their dues."
That's where Stuart's extended playing experience, personality, and ability as a coach really fit the mold for Woodcroft's vision for the position that sharpened over the entirety of the application process.
"I found in Mark someone who had a very good perspective on the game," Woodcroft said. "He was a first-round draft pick, he played in different cities in different organizations, is honest as the days are long, hardworking, very intelligent, and to me fit that profile of what I was looking for to round out the complexion of our staff."