Eakins - appointed in July 2013 - was relieved of his duties after 15 defeats from 16 games left the Oilers with the fewest amount of wins - seven - in the NHL.
General manager Craig MacTavish will assume the reins on an interim basis before Todd Nelson, who has been promoted from Edmonton's American Hockey League affiliate the Oklahoma City Barons, eventually takes charge until the end of the season.
"There's blood all over my hands in this as well because I put the line-up together and the roster," MacTavish told reporters on Monday.
"I'm not here to absolve myself of accountability in the situation that we're in, nor am I here to solely blame Dallas for the job that he did because in my mind he did a lot of really good things for our group.
"This group had a long way to go, I think he brought them a significant distance as the bulk and core of this group matures and gets their game to a level of maturity that would allow us to have more success than we've had now. It's just the compounding of the losses that led me to this decision."
Eakins, who replaced Ralph Krueger in 2013, leaves the Oilers with a 36-63-14 record.
"I really feel the same way now as I did when I hired him," MacTavish said.
"He's an excellent coach. I was happy with a lot of things. I had no real good reason to do this, outside of performance and that's really the bottom line that we're all judged by - the performance level of the hockey club and certainly the record.
"I would point to those things solely as the reason for this change."
Nelson, 45, makes the step up to the Oilers after five seasons with the Barons in Oklahoma City, where he made the AHL play-offs on four occasions.
He will join the Oilers in time for Tuesday's game against the Arizona Coyotes.
"He will join me as I transition the team and the responsibilities of the team over to Todd," MacTavish said.
"I know the personnel well so I want to help Todd in that transition. I want to be clear in my messaging to the players. I want to get into the trenches.
"I think I have a very good idea and understanding of what the dynamic is there, but I want to get my hands on it for a short period of time and then I will transition back over to Todd. Todd will remain as interim coach for the remainder of the year."