Oilers fire Todd McLellan, former Red Wings assistant

Edmonton, Alberta – The Edmonton Oilers fired coach Todd McLellan, the former Red Wings assistant, and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock on Tuesday, with the team languishing in sixth place in the Pacific Division.

McLellan was in his fourth season behind the Oilers’ bench. The team missed the playoffs in two of his previous three seasons despite having superstar Connor McDavid on its roster. The Oilers were just 9-10-1 entering its game Tuesday night at San Jose.

McLellan was head coach of the Sharks from 2008-09 through 2014-15. Prior to that he was an assistant in Detroit under Mike Babcock for three seasons. He won a Stanley Cup with the Wings in 2008.

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Hitchcock announced his retirement in April after a 22-year coaching career, which included a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999.

McLellan is the fourth coach to be fired this year, following John Stevens in Los Angeles, Joel Quenneville in Chicago and Mike Yeo in St. Louis.