As the days pass on, the likelihood of Ken Holland leaving the Detroit Red Wings and joining the Edmonton Oilers as their new GM (autonomy included) becomes greater and greater. The weekend is still young and so there is still time for the two sides to walk away, but from what I have gathered over the last couple of days, I’d be getting used to the idea of Holland as Edmonton’s new general manager.
I’d like to begin by talking about this prospective hire and then talk about some of the moves the team might make if it indeed does come to fruition.
WHY YOU HAVE TO BE ANGRY?
The unhappy portion of the fanbase point to lost trades and poor contracts as to why they wouldn’t support this hiring. I think they are being short-sighted and the reason for that, I feel, is that this is a team that believes in drafting and developing. That mantra has been a pillar of the Red Wing franchise for decades and what better way to live by that than to make it very difficult for the team’s prospects to break into the 1st team by re-signing veterans to extensions?
Can you show me the last trade made by Holland that could be considered a Brandon Manning-esque loss? You’d probably have to go way back to 2015 to the Erik Cole trade (Dallas ended up with Janmark and Hintz in the end there) or perhaps the Datsyuk salary dump where Holland had to sacrifice Jakub Chychrun to move their star Russian’s salary. But even then they managed to get two fine prospects in Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski in that trade…
Frans Nielsen has been a bit of a disaster, but Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, and Tyler Bertuzzi are on some very team-friendly deals. When Justin Abdelkader was 28 years old and coming off a second consecutive 40+ point season, Holland signed him to a seven-year extension worth $4.25M per season. A deal that was only 250k more than the one Benoit Pouliot signed in Edmonton that so many were up in arms about when he was bought out.
So you’ve got these vets holding spots warm for the likes of Givani Smith, Filip Zadina, Axel Holmstrom, Jonathan Berggren, and Joe Veleno.
But maybe we can look to how Holland has shaped his defense as a weakness but you can’t deny that he rewards loyalty. Now whether you see that as a pro or a con, that’s for you to decide. Danny Dekeyser was a highly sought after college free agent but he’s never lived up to his salary. Niklas Kronwall, on the other hand, had two of his most productive seasons at the ages of 33 and 34. Mike Green had two really good years in Washington and has been riding those seasons every since then. He is still good for 30+ points a year but they’re unhealthy years.
Detroit’s AHL team has Ville Saarijarvi, Filip Hronek, and Joe Hicketts developing there. As for the prospects that have yet to make it to Grand Rapids, Jared McIsaac, Alex Regula, and Gustav Lindstrom well on their way. And I shouldn’t forget about Dennis Cholowski, the 19-year-old who appeared in 52 games for the Red Wings and 25 for the Griffins this past season.
In net, the trust factor comes into play again. Holland should’ve moved on from Jimmy Howard sooner than later but he’s has been in Detroit his whole career. He signed Jonathan Bernier to a 3-yr deal worth $3M per year in what I’m thinking was a move aimed at having the former Maple Leafs goalie replace Howard.
Filip Larsson is a Swedish netminder who signed with Holland’s team after a very nice NCAA career (if you want to call one season a career). Just this last season he played 22 games for the University of Denver and posted a 1.95 GAA and a .925 save percentage. The season before that he played for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL and in 30 games accrued a 1.65 GAA and a .941 save percentage… He’s only 20 years old right now and will start his pro career next season. It shouldn’t be long before he’s netminding for the Red Wings.
The mess that the new general manager is walking into isn’t one for a rookie GM, in my opinion. And this isn’t the Oilers potentially bringing in Peter Chiarelli. Ken Holland is a person who actually talks to people and brings others in to help with decision making.
When Scotty Bowman stepped down in 2002, Holland went around to everyone, including the players, and got all the intel he could to make that hire and what was decided was that their assistant coach Dave Lewis would be that guy.
The point I’m trying to make here is that if the Oilers want a guy who’s top attributes are communication, patience, being steady-handed, and experienced; then who better?
Another thing that is very important about hiring the Vernon, BC native is that he’s learned from some of the very best in the business (Jimmy Devellano, who learned from a legend in Bill Torrey) on how to manage a hockey team and he’s passed that knowledge on to such executives as Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill and now current Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman.
The Oilers wanted to hire Keith Gretzky as their GM but the air around the team is toxic right now and instead, I believe the plan is to give Kretzky the assistant general manager’s position but with heightened responsibilities and then have him mentored by Holland.
WHO’S COMING AND GOING?
- This week there was quite a bit of chatter about Sean Burke joining the Oilers but not as GM. If I had to take a guess, I think that this is still on the cards and that if he did sign with the Oilers, he’d be hired to replace Duane Sutter as director of pro scouting.
- Bob Green is the director of free agent scouting for the team and my guess is that the team will probably move on from him too. The Tobias Rieder signing was horrid and anybody that would’ve done their homework would’ve seen that from his play in LA prior to joining Edmonton.
- Craig MacTavish has done a fine job building Bakersfield into what it is today, so there’s a slight possibility that he could stay on.
- I can’t see Scott Howson continuing in his current role. I think he spends most of his time at his home in Columbus anyhow.
- If Gretzky gets more responsibility that’ll mean someone will need to take over the amateur scouting, I’d assume that to be Tyler Wright who’d be coming with Holland from Detroit.
So those are my guesses as to the front-office changes. As for the roster changes, there are a few.
- As per my source, Milan Lucic f*cked up with that interview in Vancouver. Belief is that Gretzky is working on a deal with Jim Benning to send Lucic to the Canucks and possibly have Loui Eriksson come back. Brandon Sutter is also an option.(I suggested they send Lucic, Russell, and a pick/prospect to Vancouver for Eriksson and Sutter. That way it would improve the Oilers PK (in theory) and it’d open up a spot on the 2nd pairing. An area that I believe needs a major upgrade. The Oilers could also stick RNH on the 2nd line and have Leon/Connor run wild on the NHL again.)
- Looks like Tyler Benson, William Lagesson, and Caleb Jones will be getting the push next season.(I asked about Bear and was told that he had a bit of an injury-plagued year, so perhaps one more year in Bako.)
- The team has been scouting Europe for the last couple of weeks. I heard a major emphasis was placed on defenders.
- The Oilers will be listening on offers for Kris Russell, Andrej Sekera, and Jesse Puljujarvi this summer.
- Edmonton is desperate to improve the defense with puck-moving defenders and Jake Gardiner’s name came up as a free agent target this summer.
- Matt Benning is in tough to stay with the club given the emergences of Jones, Lagesson, and Bear. Wouldn’t be surprised if the rumored Connor Brown for Benning deal gets completed this summer.
- I feel like there’s an appetite to re-sign defenseman Kevin Gravel.
- Nugent-Hopkins is at the end of his rope with the organization. They need to show improvement or he’s gone.
- Todd Nelson is a name to consider as a head coach candidate.
Now that’s a lot of movement, right? And the new GM hasn’t even been named. So take all of that for what you will.
My personal feeling is that if Ken Holland is the new boss, a guy like Jesse Puljujarvi will get another chance to show what he’s capable of. Maybe the Oilers hire Todd Nelson and he works some of that magic with Pulju as he did with Yakupov?
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
