McLellan was Oilers' top choice from beginning, club never interviewed Babcock

The Edmonton Oilers announced the hiring of former San Jose Sharks bench boss Todd McLellan on Tuesday, adding another piece to a club that's seen a whirlwind of change in the offseason.

After new CEO Bob Nicholson got the ball rolling by hiring Peter Chiarelli as general manager, the winds of change were in full swing, and McLellan was the last piece of the puzzle - a decision made right from the beginning.

"He was the guy that we wanted. And I wanted him to get on it. Get on it in a hurry," said Chiarelli after the team's press conference announcing McLellan as their new bench boss. "The reason Todd was the top candidate in my mind is his history of taking skill players who learn how to play hard under him."

This means that Mike Babcock, who has been highly-sought-after by many clubs, was not an option for the Oilers - a fact confirmed by Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun.

The Oilers played it smart.

While everyone else was on Babcock watch, Edmonton went after their man right away, not giving anyone else the opportunity to get to him first.

"I wanted to start it quickly in terms of setting something up. I wanted to get ahead of it with Todd, so I went over to Prague at the start of the (World Championship) tournament," said Chiarelli. "I knew there were a lot of teams that would want to talk to Todd so I wanted to be first in to let him digest it and get to know me and what we’re about here and what we’re trying to do here."

With McLellan joining the party in Edmonton and the team expected to draft Connor McDavid with the first-overall pick in June's draft, the pieces may be in place for the team to climb out of the NHL's basement and make a return to the glory years when they were perennial contenders for the Stanley Cup.