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The mandate of Todd McLellan with the Edmonton Oilers is over.
The Oilers confirmed Tuesday that Ken Hitchcock will replace McLellan at the helm after a 9-10-1 start to the season.
After finishing second in the Pacific Division with 103 points in 2016-17 and having reached the playoffs for the first time since 2006, the McLellan Oilers took a step back last season with the power play the more anemic of the league and the penultimate penalty.
The Oilers started this season 8-4-1, but have since lost six of their last seven games to go under .500 before Wednesday's San Jose Sharks game.
McLellan joined the Oilers after seven seasons behind the Sharks' bench. As a player, McLellan played five games with the New York Islanders in the 1987-88 season.
TSN Hockey insider Pierre LeBrun notes that McLellan was recruited for the upcoming season with a salary of $ 3 million a year.
Hitchcock spent last season as head coach of the Dallas Stars, recording a record of 42-32-8 while missing the playoffs. He was released after only one season with the team.
With 1,536 career games behind the bench, Hitchcock is fifth in all-time games. He has a career record of 823-506-88-119 in 20 seasons with the Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues. He won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999 and the Jack Adams Award with the Blues in 2012.
McLellan is the fourth head coach to be fired this season, joining John Stevens (Los Angeles Kings), Joel Quenneville (Chicago Blackhawks) and Mike Yeo, who replaced Hitchcock as the Blues head coach in 2017.
There has been no change of coach in the NHL season in 2017-18, the first time since 1966-1967.
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