Ken Hitchcock won’t return as Oilers’ head coach next season

Ron MacLean, Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman discuss the Edmonton Oilers on the verge of hiring Ken Holland as their general manager.

The Edmonton Oilers have their new general manager. Next up, the search for a new head coach begins.

According to Sportsnet’s John Shannon, Ken Hitchcock will not be returning to the team.

Hitchcock spent the majority of the 2018-19 season behind the Oilers’ bench, a November hiring after the dismissal of Todd McLellan.

New GM Ken Holland was granted full autonomy in hockey decisions, and it was widely assumed that would include a fresh start behind the bench. Edmonton went 26-28-8 in 62 games under Hitchcock’s guidance and failed to make the post-season for the second straight year.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.