On February 10 of this year, when the Oilers were mired in losing streaks, GM Ken Holland decided to fire longtime friend Dave Tippet, and promote the in-house option of the minor league coach, Jay Woodcroft. Since taking the job, the Oilers have a .700 points percentage, good enough for third in the league.
McDavid's agent Jeff Jackson responded to Rishaug with a simple «Yes». The unwarranted show of support indicates that McDavid, and the team as a whole, are much happier playing under the systems of Jay Woodcroft, compared to the media controversy and poor play they experienced under Tippett.
The Oilers are now rolling into a playoff spot playing a more complete team game, specifically with more involvement from the bottom six forwards. Woodcroft, in scaling down McDavid and Draisaitl's ice time, has re-engaged these depth forwards who were previously barely on the ice, while McDavid and Draisaitl would play 25+ minutes.
With McDavid clearly happy in the direction the team is headed in, perhaps the Oilers will finally make some noise in the playoffs. Not to mention this should ease fears about the rumoured deadline McDavid had placed on Ken Holland.