FEATURE: Coffey's presence a benefit to Oilers defence

EDMONTON, AB -"He's one of the best defencemen of all-time."
Oilers Captain Connor McDavid has known Paul Coffey for years, having grown up in the Toronto Marlboros minor midget program. Coffey's son is a year younger than McDavid, and played in the same Toronto system, so the two families were always around each other.

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The Oilers announced on Sunday morning that Coffey has been hired as Skills Development Coach. The former all-star defenceman's primary responsibilities will likely rest with the development of the club's young blueline, their prospects down in the minors, and those in junior and in college.
"It's a position I've been looking at for a while," said Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Peter Chiarelli. "From 30,000 feet, you look at our prospect pool and we've got a lot of defencemen, ranging from the junior leagues to college, we've got three prime prospects in Bakersfield, and we've got young defencemen."
Coffey says he had conversations with Chiarelli and Head Coach Todd McLellan even before coming on board, and now he's ready to help in any way they need him. Sunday was his first day on the ice with the team, after he watched Saturday's 5-2 win over Vancouver with the assistant coaches in the pressbox.
Coffey was a fast, dynamic blueliner in his playing days, with elite offensive abilities. He scored a remarkable 48 goals for the Oil during the 1985-86 campaign. One of the benefits Coffey can hope to bring to Edmonton now is boosting the offensive impact of the team's young defensive core.
"That was one of the strongest parts of his game, was his ability to make plays and create plays offensively. For guys, such as myself, it's something I'm looking forward to help grow my game," said Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse.
"It's obviously huge," said fellow blueliner Oscar Klefbom. "He's a big asset, especially for myself and all the defencemen in here. It's going to be very interesting to see what he can bring and help us with."
Chiarelli says he values Coffey's insight into the game, and believes it will help the Oilers at all levels of their organization.
"I really like the way he looks at the game, the intricacies of playing defence," he said.
"He's going to give an additional perspective to our group at this level and he just knows his craft well and is obviously a very accomplished guy. We're excited to get him in here."
Having previously known the presence Coffey has around a rink, McDavid would know better than some of the other players in the room what kind of insight he can give.

"The way he thinks the game, he sees the game from a different aspect than I do," McDavid said. "He sees it from the defensive side, but he was a guy who could get the puck up. He scored 48 goals one year, so obviously he knows what he's doing offensively as well. He's a guy who knows the game all around, he's a hall of famer, and a legend. Anything he tells you, you soak up."
Coffey hasn't played since the 2000-01 season, but he believes the style of teaching players today isn't different than it was in his playing days.
"You look at the game, and as much as it has changed it's still the same," he said. "They're still hockey players, the guys that are playing are guys who value structure and opinion and some old-school mentality. The long story short is you get your guys playing for you and that's what matters."
For the players who Coffey will be working with, having a legend around to help teach is exciting.
"I was born in Edmonton and an Oilers a fan my whole life," said defenceman Matt Benning. "Just the way my dad talked about him and his ability to make plays… he was someone I looked up to. I didn't get to watch him much. I was five or seven when he retired but you still see highlights of him. He was an elite player."
His presence may already be paying off.
"I like to pick his brain," said Benning. "I don't want to pick it too much but practice after practice, you can ask him little things. Today he offered an insight that I didn't really think about and I've been playing for a year and a half."