September 5, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers hired Mike Fanelli as the new Video and Coaching Analytics Coordinator and Noah Segall as the Video Coach on Tuesday.

Fanelli most recently was an Assistant Coach with the Sioux City Musketeers from 2021 until taking this role. His most relevant work experience that pertains to this role was his five years with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a Hockey Analytics Assistant. The Lightning have been known to have a strong Analytics department for many years, and Fanelli was a part of it for five years, including their Stanley Cup title years in 2020 and 2021. I can’t speak to Fanelli’s impact on the Lightning’s Analytics department, but he was clearly a part of a strong team that earned fantastic results.

Fanelli joins Justin Mahé, Manager of Hockey Analytics, and Shaun Mahé, Coordinator, Hockey Operations in the Analytics Department. Fanelli should bring valuable perspective from his experience with the Lightning organization. 

The hiring of Fanelli is the first move that CEO Jeff Jackson has made to fortify the Analytics department, as I suggested he would do in my recent three-part series on Jackson’s potential impact on the Oilers. This is a tangible sign that Jackson values analytics and that he’s taking action to improve the department. 

Related: Jackson’s Potential Impact on the Oilers: Part Three – Professional Scouting and Analytics

The Oilers have notoriously struggled when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are not on the ice. The ability to find players that can win the battle when McDavid and Draisaitl are not on the ice is critical to the team’s success. Analytics offer valuable insights that can inform those roster decisions. Analytics can also inform coaching decisions. The data can reveal which line combinations and defensive pairs are working well together, and which ones are not. That information can help when deciding on lineups or when trying to match lines with another team.

Segall was previously a Video Coordinator with the Oilers, and he has now been promoted to Video Coach. Prior to joining the Oilers, Segall was a Video Coach with the Bakersfield Condors from 2021 to 2022, and a Video Coach with the Charlotte Checkers from 2019 to 2021. He also spent two years as the Director of Hockey Operations for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The role was previously held by Jeremy Coupal, who decided to part ways with the team earlier this summer. Coupal was the person upstairs notifying the coaching staff if he felt that a play needed to be challenged. Coupal had a real knack for picking up challengeable plays, and he was correct far more often than not. Segall has big shoes to fill in that respect. Hopefully he learned lots from Coupal, which I’m sure he did.

Related: Oilers Mutually Part Ways with Wright, Hire Pracey

According to Coupal’s LinkedIn profile, he also submitted game lineups, logged events, and communicated information with the coaches on the bench during games. He also assisted with Team Services and travel planning. I would expect Segall to assume those responsibilities. Coupal also assisted with analytics. Given Fanelli’s entry into the organization, I don’t expect that Segall will be involved in analytics much, if at all.

Jackson continues to bring fresh minds and new perspectives to the Oilers organization in his quest to make the Oilers “best in class” at everything they do. He seems to be intent on reducing the number of responsibilities that each person has, such as giving Rick Pracey one of the two titles that Tyler Wright previously held and by adding to the Analytics department thus reducing the workload of the Video Coach. That should serve to make everyone stronger at their specific roles. I’m excited to see how these hires will impact the team this season and over the next few years!

Editor’s Note (September 6, 2023): Justin Mahé no longer appears on the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Operations Staff web page as of September 5, 2023. This could mean that Mahé is no longer with the organization, but I have absolutely zero confirmation about that information. This is purely speculation on my part.