Edmonton Oilers fire head coach Jay Woodcroft.

The Edmonton Oilers have made a coaching change.

According to National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman, Jay Woodcroft has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Oilers effective immediately.

The move comes as something of a surprise given the fact that the Oilers are coming off of a big win over the Vancouver Canucks, one of the best performing teams in 2023-24 regular season thus far, on Saturday night. There of course had been plenty of talk of Woodcroft's job being on the line leading up to Saturday's game, but the timing of it coming off a win over one of the top teams in the Oilers' division does feel odd.

Despite the stunning failure that has been the Oilers' season thus far, Woodcroft ends his coaching tenure in Edmonton with a very respectable record of 79-41-13. It seems likely that he will be a sought after commodity when other teams around the NHL inevitably make coaching changes of their own.

Stay tuned for more details.