Tippett, who was 282-257-83 as coach of the Coyotes over eight seasons from 2009-2017, was hired by the Oilers on May 28 after he was a senior adviser for the Seattle expansion franchise.
He said after the morning skate that there will be no advantage for him because he once coached some of the players on the other side.
"Maybe if you'd just left, but if you look at their roster, there's not much left from when I was there," Tippett said. "So if it was last year when I was there and then left, maybe you could say you'd know them. But the majority of their players were either real young players and only a few of them are left from when I was there. I've been away from there for two or three years now. Time has changed things a little bit."
In Tippett's final season with the Coyotes, he coached seven players on Arizona's roster this season: defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski, and forwards Clayton Keller, Christian Dvorak, Christian Fischer, Lawson Crouse and Brad Richardson.
He said that he knows those players well, but it won't change the way he watches the game or does his job behind the Edmonton bench.
"You know who's out there," Tippett said. "I would watch them more on video to prepare for them. But once you get in a game, you've got lots to concentrate on [with] your team and maximize what you're doing.
Tippett said it was more of a novelty for him in the preseason when the Oilers played the Coyotes on Sept. 24 at Rogers Place, a game won 4-2 by the Coyotes.
When it was suggested to him that preseason games don't count, Tippett said, "It did to me."
Tippett has led the Oilers to a 10-4-1 start, tied for first in the Western Conference with the St. Louis Blues. His former team in Arizona is 8-4-1 under second-year coach Rick Tocchet.
"Rick has done a good job with that group," Tippett said. "They're a real competitive team."
