Report: Adam Oates Joining Red Wings for Three Days
According to Dan Muphy of Sportsnet, former Washington Capitals bench boss Adam Oates will join the Red Wings for the next three days to work with the team:
#RedWings have brought Adam Oates in to work with their team for the next three days.
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) December 18, 2015
Oates is a skills coach with 18 individual clients including Stamkos and Parise. Started the business this past off season. #RedWings
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) December 18, 2015
Per Jeff Blashill, he said he asked Adam Oates to come to town to pick his brain. Blashill big on getting different thoughts on things.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) December 18, 2015
Initial thought is that Oates will come in and consult with special teams, more specifically the power-play.
Detroit's power-play has been awfully lackluster since being tops in the league last season. They currently sit at 18th (18.2% efficiency), and have really struggled to score when having the man advantage. My guess is that Oates will work with skill players on the systematics of running their 1-3-1 scheme on the power-play. At this point, judging by Murphy's comments on Twitter, it seems as if this will be nothing more than a consulting period, and not an addition to the Red Wings coaching staff.
This story is developing.