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After eight straight missed playoffs, Oilers hire ‘biggest critic’

Edmonton Oilers v Phoenix Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 31: Head coach Dallas Eakins of the Edmonton Oilers during the NHL game against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena on December 31, 2013 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Oilers 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Christian Petersen

Tyler Dellow can be abrasive. He can be caustic. He can, frankly, be kind of a jerk. (Don’t worry, he’s been called worse.) Which is why there will be no shortage of people, many of them in the media, who hope he falls flat on his face in his new role with the Edmonton Oilers.

Dellow -- described by the Globe and Mail as “a Toronto-based lawyer turned amateur statistician who had become the organization’s biggest critic over its eight consecutive playoff-less seasons” -- has joined the Oilers to be their go-to guy in the burgeoning field of analytics.

You might already know Dellow from his Twitter handle, @mc79hockey, or from his since-shuttered blog, each of which he used to lambaste those in the Oilers organization, as well as those who covered the team.

“I heard through the grapevine [during the year] he was being highly critical of our team,” Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins told the Globe this week.

“That didn’t bother me. I’m like, ‘How can he not be highly critical of our team? We’re in 28th place.’ So of course he was.”

One popular joke is that the Oilers only hired Dellow to shut him up. Consider two of his latest tweets:

And yes, he often projects a rather high opinion of himself. However, that doesn’t mean his analysis is inaccurate, or that he can’t help the Oilers.

It’s worth noting that two of Edmonton’s newest players, Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne, had excellent possession numbers with the Rangers and Devils, respectively. (See: here and here). Did Dellow have a hand in those signings? It’s possible. (Just as it’s possible Kyle Dubas in Toronto had a hand in the Maple Leafs signing David Booth and Daniel Winnik.)

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Back in May, it was reported that the NHL was planning to “test new technology to track players in action and produce a vast new array of information,” and that a new system could be in place for 2015-16.

Well, once that flood of data starts, teams are going to need people who can identify what’s relevant and what’s just noise. The Oilers see Dellow as that kind of person.

“He’s sharp,” said Eakins. “He’s more than the one-trick Corsi wonder. He understands everything fully. We think there’s going to be a great opportunity to look at our team in a number of different ways that Tyler can help us.”

Even if he’s kind of a jerk sometimes.