Mattias Ekholm has had lots of defence coaches through his close to 900 NHL games and now he’ll have another one with Paul Coffey stepping aside for Mark Stuart.

“Really enjoyed Coff’s time here (two years). I want to say that first and foremost. I really appreciated Paul as a coach,” said the Edmonton Oilers defenceman.

“You’re looking at two guys now. One was a little bit different. Paul played the game obviously and he was a winner… he saw everything with his eyes and that’s what he trusted,” said Ekholm.

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Coffey will be a special advisor to the Oilers hockey operations department this season.

Stuart, a former first-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2003, certainly has had his hand in the defence too after playing 673 NHL g

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