Tag Archives: Kelly McCrimmon

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Gretzky Leading the Pack for Oilers GM Job? Kypreos says it’s Holland Though.

I’ll start this off by saying that this morning’s post regarding Mark Spector saying the Oilers had interviewed Kelly McCrimmon, well I guess that has been privately denied. I was in touch with another source and was told that they’d dug into that quote and was informed by their own source that improper wordage was used. That wasn’t what Spector intended to say.

Believe what you will, but I’m not really buying that. Spec prefaced that quote very clearly as one he could share with us. If he misworded or what he said wasn’t the intended, a) he would’ve gone public and corrected it or b) he would’ve said what he meant to. It was a prepared statement.

I’m also of the belief that we’re hearing what both McCrimmon’s party and the Oilers’ want us to hear.

So where do we go from here?

*EDIT* I wrote an entire piece here on the premise that Keith Gretzky was the front-runner for the job, but Nick Kypreos has just said this during the Sharks/Avs intermission:

So you can continue to read on if you like as there’s some information in this post that still pertains but it looks like things have changed on the GM front in Edmonton… Or at least that’s what we’re being told. 

Is Ken Holland the big fish? What happens if he passes? Are we back to Gretzky and Hunter? This is going to be fun!!!

Well, the common belief is that Mark Hunter has jumped to the front of the queue but when I asked around about that I was told that that might be the public perception NOT the internal one.

What I’m understanding there is that the order of preference has changed now that McCrimmon is out and now it looks like this:

  1. Ken Holland
  2. Keith Gretzky
  3. Mark Hunter

I’d read about a possible 3-headed management team consisting of Sean Burke and Keith Gretzky serving as assistant general managers with Mark Hunter as GM but that was quickly refuted. Instead, it was passed along that if the Oilers can’t convince Ken Holland to join the team (aka “make him an offer he can’t refuse”) that they’d prefer to install Gretzky as GM.

For those thinking of a Holland/Gretzky tandem, I’m not sure I see that happening. I don’t feel that Holland would leave a very cushy position in DET as their POHO to go to Edmonton to be the Oilers’ POHO. But if you’ve been listening to Kurt Leavins and Elliotte Friedman, they’ve been pumping Holland’s tires for quite some time now…

There are some things to be worried about with Holland as GM though and my friend SPR who’s a Red Wings supporter out of London, Ont. has spoken to this in the past,

https://twitter.com/TheOilKnight/status/1118505355636396032

https://twitter.com/TheOilKnight/status/1122957248194420736

Why is this team so fearful of big change? I guess there isn’t a fear of big change, that is just what it seems like.

Of course that’s what it seems like!

You have a gentleman who is considered as talented as Kelly McCrimmon in Mark Hunter and he’s going to want full control. So the idea is to go with someone else? Even after you’ve interviewed him twice already? That’s not going to play well with Hunter or other GMs in the future when it’s time to go down that road again…

No disrespect to Gretzky and his 19 years in the NHL over Hunter’s three, but this seems a bit fishy. I’ve never heard Kretzky’s name bandied about as a possible GM candidate for other clubs… Ever. But I have heard Mark Hunter’s, Mike Futa’s, Bill Zito’s, etc.

Why is that?

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Then you’ve got Jim Matheson wondering if Gretzky would leave the Oilers much in the way that Hunter left Toronto when Kyle Dubas was chosen over him as GM of the Leafs.

I suppose that’s a possibility, has anybody been calling and asking for permission to talk to him? His contract expires at the end of June… But maybe, just maybe, that might be what’s best for the Oilers.

What if the best thing for the organization is if all of the guys that have been with the club through the decade(+2) of darkness got jobs with other teams? Why does the playing roster have to be rebuilt but not the executive one?

Bob Stauffer said to keep an eye out for what current IIHF president Rene Fasel is doing? If he goes to run the KHL, there’s a strong chance Bob Nicholson would get the push to be the new president of the IIHF.

Then we have Ray Ferraro saying that this GM search for the Oilers is going poorly. I call bullshit on that too. Remember last summer when Carolina was trying to hire a GM and candidates were turning them down? THAT is a bad GM search and I don’t recall those execs who turned them down doing it because they were getting promoted. Holland and McCrimmon both accepted promotions.

The funny part about that Ferraro spot on a Toronto radio show is that he went ahead and pumped Ron Hextall’s tires after and for those of you who didn’t know, Hextall and Ferraro were teammates in junior with Brandon (WHL), Kelly McCrimmon’s team now…

Has the New GM Been Working For the Oilers All This Time?

Have the Oilers had the new GM since January? It’d make sense given Nicholson had Kretzky on the podium with him at the year-end avail, right? But then what the hell was the point in interviewing all of these candidates? Were they looking for support pieces for Keith? Some rumors have Sean Burke, whose son plays for the University of Alberta and spends a lot of time in the west, joining the club in some capacity that isn’t the general manager’s.

This is what Pierre LeBrun had to say about former Edmonton Oiler Scott Mellanby,

“The Habs assistant GM is known as a hard worker who rolls up his sleeves and puts in the hours. He’s also had a front-row seat to the pressure-cooker his boss Marc Bergevin has lived through over the years, experiencing that roller-coaster, which would serve him well if he’s ever running a franchise that’s under that kind of a spotlight.”

And this is what LeBrun had to say about Sean Burke,

“This is a guy that deserves a break at some point. Canada’s Olympic GM from last year was a longtime assistant GM in Arizona. He’s put in his time.”

https://twitter.com/chrispagnani/status/1124068981520912397

As I said before, we hear what the organization wants us to hear and wouldn’t it be right in the Oilers’ wheelhouse to try and pull the wool over everyone’s eyes by saying they’d go through “the process” to find a new GM, then actually do it thus furthering the illusion, but then only to come back and say they knew Keith Gretzky was the one the whole time?

Now that is a really pessimistic way of looking at things and if you know me, I’m not really that kind of person. So I’d like to set things straight on this front.

I’m not against the Oilers hiring Gretzky. My feeling is that they need to bring in new blood, fresh opinions, and ideas. Since Keith has rolled into town, I feel like the quality of the Oilers’ pipeline has improved. Sure, he was part of the Chia regime and there will be ire if he’s hired, but as far as I can gather, he wasn’t part of that privileged group that Chiarelli surrounded himself with before he was fired.

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The impression that I get is that I think there’s a strong internal push for Gretzky to be hired as those who’ve been working alongside him have enjoyed the time. I hear that he listens whereas Chiarelli didn’t.

The Oilers can walk this line if they’re careful and bring in a couple of guys like Sean Burke (Pro scout w/MTL) and say, Al Murray (TB’s Dir. of Am. Scouting). It really is about surrounding the GM with the right people as the support staff must be of the highest quality in order for this to work.

But just as important as the additions are, the subtractions are as well. I don’t think for a second that if Keith Gretzky is hired that there won’t be changes and this begs the question, what is the minimal amount of turnover that would appease the fanbase?

Let us know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Rumor: Prominent Sportsnet Journalist says the Oilers HAVE interviewed Kelly McCrimmon

We’ve been under the impression from pundits like Elliotte Friedman that the Oilers have been waiting around to interview Vegas Golden Knights assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon. That they haven’t yet received permission to speak to the highly sought after executive.

“As I write this, Vegas has not yet granted official permission for Edmonton to meet with McCrimmon, although an answer is expected at some point this week.” (source)

That is from the April 30th edition of 31 Thoughts. 

The next quote is via Oilers Now! It belongs to PHWA President Mark Spector. It pertains to what sort of person Kelly McCrimmon is and Spector prefaced this quote by saying, “I talked to a contract that knows McCrimmon real well and the quote I will share with you was,”

“When that interview in Edmonton ended, the guys in Edmonton probably felt like they were the ones being interviewed.” 

Just click play and you’ll hear what Spector said. Also, this came out on the same day as Friedman’s blog.

Now, I know from time to time that Spec lets things slip that shouldn’t get out from time to time, but I don’t see this as one of them. This was very much on purpose.

I also remember a couple of things blowing up on Friedman this past season that he’d reported…

So who has the right information?

My impression of the way this process was supposed to go was it was going to be airtight. No Leaks. So what’s happening here? The Sportsnet guys are putting out conflicting reports whereas the pundits over at TSN are still speculating on who the third or fourth candidate is still. Then you have Friedman and Rishaug going head to head on the Ken Holland reports…

I do think the Oilers are leaking things but don’t ask me which things are true and which are not. At this point, the news is so juicy that I reckon the reporters are grabbing onto anything and running with it.

Hockey politics is fun, isn’t it?

My belief is that Edmonton has talked to McCrimmon, be that informally or as Spector said, formally, and he is the no. 1 candidate at this point in time. Whether he wants the job, I think that’s the more pertinent question because if he doesn’t want it, Mark Hunter has interviewed twice and I would go as far as to say that it’s his job if McCrimmon passes on it.

Interesting note coming from Bob Stauffer from today’s Oilers Now! though. He said that Sean Burke could still be in the running for the GM’s position but it was his opinion that he could come into the org in more of a support role potentially. The reason for that according to Stauffer is because he’s not seen in the same light as McCrimmon and Mark Hunter.

So how would you feel about a Kelly McCrimmon/Sean Burke combo or a Mark Hunter/Sean Burke tandem?

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Oilers Set to Name New GM Shortly

Now that the Battle of Winterfell has been completed, it’s time for the Edmonton Oilers to name their new GM and I strongly suspect that will take place this week. Thanks to Bob Stauffer for throwing that Game of Thrones spoiler up on Twitter… I didn’t really want to watch that episode as it was.

The timing of this hiring is important for a few reasons:

  • The Oilers will send out their season ticket renewals this week and not only will it be of the utmost importance as to who’s named general manager but also, who won’t be returning to the organization.
  • I feel as if there are just as many concerns regarding who the new boss will be as there are for which members of the old boys club might be coming back.
  • I’d heard rumblings that Scott Howson would be leaving and also Craig MacTavish but then weeks later that MacT would be retained due to his work with the AHL club… So take that for what it is.
  • It sounds like the organization is really monitoring social media and other online outlets. They want a real true idea as to who the fans would like brought in and other areas they’d like to see change at.
  • We were told that this would be an airtight process. That nothing would be getting out, but every week we hear from hockey pundits about who’s in the running for the Oilers GM position. That’s not an accident. It’s strategic and smart, in my opinion. Get as much intel as possible, right?
  • It sounds like the pro scouting department will be getting overhauled as that is a major concern amongst the fans and if OEG wants to have the best chance at getting as many season ticket renewals as possible, bringing in some new pro scouts would go a long way.
  • That being said, I wouldn’t expect said turnover right away with some very important meetings set to take place this week.

This whole ordeal is as much about getting the right guy as it is about regaining confidence in the brand. There’s a belief that if Bob Nicholson doesn’t get this choice correct, that it’ll be the end for him and possibly the club’s roster structure as we know it today.

I don’t believe that the club’s major players would want out, but I’m also not sure if they’ve got the same amount of patience as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who’s been with the club for near a decade and has only made the post-season once.

What is going on with Keith Gretzky now? My feeling is that he’s out of the picture because nobody has thrown his name out there for a few weeks. Could that be because he’s out of the running? Could it be because he’s actually the guy getting hired as GM? I don’t think it would be the latter if the Oilers are concerned about season ticket renewals.

Another reason the timing of this decision is key is that, according to Spoiler Stauff, the pro and amateur meetings are being held this week. Hiring the new guy and bringing him right in to meet his new employees makes too much sense. It’d give him a chance to lay down his future plans for the club and to let those who will be staying/going know where they stand.

I truly believe the race is down to three names (in order of club preference):

  1. Kelly McCrimmon
  2. Mark Hunter
  3. Ross Mahoney

Mahoney is the man with the most NHL experience here at 24 years and he’s a good ol’ Saskatchewan boy! So that’s a plus for folks looking for a GM who might be a bit more relatable.

The same could be said about Kelly McCrimmon too though. He’s spent a majority of his hockey career in Brandon, Manitoba. Not quite the same flash as Vegas. His reputation for being a very hard worker, a grinder if you will, precedes him. Typically in junior hockey things going in cycles. You’re good for a few years, then you’re poor. You rebuild for a couple of seasons and then make a run again. Well, Brandon has been on top of the junior seen for a very long time and has never really fallen into that cyclical nature that other teams have. That’s the sign of a manager who can not only plan for the short term but also the long term. Edmonton could use that.

And this also could be said for Mark Hunter, whose London Knights are annual contenders for the OHL championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup. It’s said that he’s a very astute talent evaluator and buys into the mastermind theory. Basically meaning, he puts the smartest and most talented people around him. From what I’ve gathered reading online, he was the eye-test to Kyle Dubas’ analytics during his time in Toronto. Hunter has also been in contact with the Oilers the longest I do believe with regards to this role on the team.

I think there’s a thought going around that there is a fourth candidate competing for the position but it’s different depending on your source.

  • Pat Verbeek (McKenzie)
  • Dave Nonis (Dreger)
  • Mike Futa (Leavins)
  • Sean Burke (Rishaug)
  • Ken Holland (Friedman)
  • Doug Armstrong (LeBrun)

I sure see a lot of Hockey Canada guys there…

I suppose that shouldn’t surprise anybody given the background of the man being tasked to find the new GM. I was just hoping that perhaps the net would be cast a bit further.

If you’d like to know more about these gentlemen and their careers, Kurt Leavins has an informative post up detailing quite a few of them.

Also, if you have a subscription to The Athletic (get one here if you don’t), check out the profiles of the potential GM candidates that Daniel Nugent-Bowman’s been throwing together recently. Outstanding work here.

Anyways, this is sure to be a REALLY exciting week in Edmonton. Buckle up, it’s going down!

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Armchair GM, Bakersfield Condors, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Trades

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: The Mystery GM Candidate, Draft Rumblings, and Trades You Won’t Like

We’re going to talk about three things in this post, 1) The Oilers GM search and who the mystery GM might be. 2) Who the Oilers might have to move when the new GM decides to make his first transaction. 3) 2019 NHL draft prospects and my notes on some of the players that stuck out for me in my viewings so far.

First off, you HAVE to check out this post from Max (@TPEhockey). It’s a list of the TOP-50 NHL prospects that have yet to be drafted. We’re talking players that are eligible for the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 draft! If you want to know who the real up and comers are in the hockey scene, you MUST read this! Click the link below to do so!

TPE Hockey’s Ultimate Top-50 List of Undrafted Prospects

News on the Oilers GM search is ramping up. I’m sure you’ve heard both Elliotte Friedman and Ryan Rishaug both come out and say that the list of potential candidates has been widdled down to 3-4.

The two names that are constantly in that list are Mark Hunter and Kelly McCrimmon. We know that Hunter has been through at least two interviews and it’s most likely that McCrimmon has been through one.

That takes care of two potential GMs that the pundits are pushing. So who might be left? Which hockey men are the pundits suggesting?

Ryan Rishaug: Sean Burke
Bob Stauffer: Ross Mahoney
Kurt Leavins: Mike Futa
Bob McKenzie: Pat Verbeek
Elliotte Friedman: Ken Holland
Darren Dreger: Dave Nonis

I think Jason Gregor has mentioned Columbus AGM Bill Zito but his team is still in the playoffs and I wouldn’t say he’s at the top of the Oilers list.

Quite a few names left, right? So we’re left asking the question, who is informed and who is being misinformed? This was supposed to be an air-tight process. Does that mean all these media types above are guessing? Are they being fed bad intel to muddy things up?

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From what I’ve gathered from my own sources, Ross Mahoney is the man that the Oilers would like to shake out of Washington.

What is VERY interesting is that nobody is talking about Keith Gretzky anymore as a candidate for the job. In the past, you’d hear a pundit throw Gretzky’s name in at the end of the conversation like, “So and so are in the running for the job as well as this guy over here. But don’t forget about Keith Gretzky, he’s still right there too.”

The other thing is, the old-timers who have been writing about the Oilers since before the dynasty days have started commenting on different names and have stopped pushing Gretzky. That could be a tell.

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/1122110380459925504

Gretzky could still very well be that mystery candidate but I’m not sure I’d put money down on that bet. That said, I do think his services will be retained as his work at the draft has been promising.

Which leads me to this idea that fans think the new GM is going to come right in a clean house. It’s not happening folks, not right away at least. Do you honestly think that a new employee is going to walk into Darryl Katz’s office and ask him to pay his old friends NOT to work for him while at the same time pay a bunch of new guys? Not. A. Chance.

Maybe in the summer of 2020 it could happen though. It took Brendan Shanahan a year to evaluate who was needed/not needed in Toronto after he was hired before he brought the ax down.

So you’ll have to be patient there.

UNCOMFORTABLE TRADES

I think if the Oilers hire Kelly McCrimmon that there’ll be some youth moved out to bring in players who can contribute instantly. I’m talking about the Kailer Yamamotos, Jesse Puljujarvis, Ethan Bears, and William Lagessons.

Edmonton will need to find a way to create some cap room and my belief is that they’ll package promising prospects with a veteran on a big ticket to entice teams into accepting the trades.

One factor playing a major role here will be the players who will be joining the Oilers’ AHL affiliate next season. I’m talking about notable names like Evan Bouchard, Dmitri Samorukov, Kirill Maksimov, Ostap Safin, and Ryan McLeod. There’s only so much room on a roster, be that of the parent team or the minor league team.

So either the Oilers make room on Edmonton’s roster or Bakersfield’s. Samorukov and Bouchard would probably be a top-pairing in the AHL for what it’s worth.

Another reason is it might all depend on who they select at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft mind you…

DRAFT RUMBLINGS

This past week I’ve been paying major attention to the u18 tournament going on in Sweden. I can only watch a handful of games though because TSN requires you to sign up to their product AND live in Canada to view it… Kinda shitty if you ask me. Luckily for me, there’s a YouTube channel that rips some of the games and uploads them to watch. Mostly US and Canada games, which is fine by me because those are the teams that have the players I’m interested in watching the most as it is.

Those players being Trevor Zegras (USA), Alex Turcotte (USA), Matthew Boldy (USA), Peyton Krebs (CAN), and Dylan Cozens (CAN).

These are all prospects I believe the Oilers will have a shot at drafting this June.

I’ll touch on Turcotte and Zegras first.

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The first thing you’ll notice with Alex Turcotte is his explosiveness. He gets his motor running high and in a hurry. He’s very quick and his speed maintains.He reminds me a bit of Matt Duchene with how quick his feet are. He’s also very tenacious on the puck. I think he’s very smart on the offensive side of the puck but he’ll need work on the defensive side. Great hands on this guy too. He can finish when presented with the opportunity. Funny enough, unless he scores 5 goals against Canada at the 3rd place game, he’ll end up with more assists than goals. Lots of scouts have him as the #3 prospect in this draft but will his aggressive (some might call reckless) style affect his ability to stay healthy and therefore cause him to drop in the draft?

Trevor Zegras can turn a defender into a pretzel if need be. He really is Jack Hughes-lite and I say that because his hands and vision are comparable to the potential 1st overall pick for this year’s draft, but his skating isn’t quite there. Hughes’ has everyone beat there. The thing with Zegras though is that he plays a very cute game and tries a lot of high-risk passes. Coaches at higher levels might try to curtail this.

If there’s a team out there that already has some snipers in its lineup but needs a high-end playmaker, a guy that can enter zones under control all the time, they might take Zegras.

My worry is if this guy is the next Rob Schremp/Sonny Milano. That’s a tough pick if you’re taking him in the top ten. On the other hand, is he the next Clayton Keller or Johnny Gaudreau? That’s a great pick in the top-ten.

The most impressive player for me that I’ve seen at this tournament has been an American left-winger by the name of Matthew Boldy. He’s 6’2″ around 185lbs and a stud. I don’t know a lot of left-wingers that drive their line but he’s been doing it all tourney and that’s saying a lot since he played with the USA’s best players at one point or another. Meaning Cole Caufield, Alex Turcotte, and Jack Hughes. I don’t think he got out there with Trevor Zegras much.

Boldy isn’t fast in the McDavid sense of the word. His speed is above average, like Nugent-Hopkins if you will. His hockey IQ is amazing. He knows where to go before the puck gets there on both the offensive and defensive sides of the game. He’s the USNTDP’s 2nd leading scorer this year (but that might’ve changed since I checked. Hughes was racking up the goals recently) behind uber scorer Cole Caufield, but he’s been in the playmaker role for Team USA at the u18s scoring three goals and adding eight assists in six games.

I’ve seen comparisons to David Pastrnak with Boldy.

Right after him on the scoring charts is Team Canada’s captain Peyton Krebs.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sold on Krebs and I’ve only viewed him one time and it was a blowout game against Belarus. So I’m not sure how much one can put into his report in a game like that, but I still made observations about him.

Krebs is also a very intelligent hockey player. He’s not as big as Boldy though as he stands around 5’10”-ish, but I’d say he’s got the quickness on him. Not only in the skating department but the hands and thinking departments as well. I found that the Canadian captain would make very quick passes which would catch his opponents off-guard.

In terms of finishing, I would say that Krebs is a playmaker first and a shooter second. He scored a really nice goal vs. Belarus (below 3:07 mark) where he had he shot it any harder glove side high, the puck might’ve gone through the netting. His six goals in six games tell me there’s a fella here who can score when playing with equally talented linemates (Newhook/Cozens). He only scored 19 goals all year in Kootenay (WHL) and it’s widely considered that his team was quite poor.

https://youtu.be/eIvMU1zxZZQ?t=187

I’ve read about Krebs’ aggressiveness on the puck but in this game, I didn’t really see that as much. He got in the corners and along the boards to battle for pucks but he wasn’t going all gung-ho in the same way an Alex Turcotte might. I’m thinking he’s a bit more cerebral with regards to his decision making on the ice.

During that match, the commentators compared Krebs to Ryan O’Reilly.

Dylan Cozens has been ranked as high as #3 by some for the upcoming draft. His combination of size, speed, and skill is so hard to come by. After watching him in this game, I’d like to add one more attribute to his game, power. He does remind me of Jeff Carter a bit.

Versus the Belarussians, Cozens had the quietest five-point game I think I’ve ever seen. He seemed to be playing a complementary role as his linemates, Peyton Krebs and Alex Newhook, were the ones stirring the drink for that line. About half-way through the 2nd period I was pretty disappointed in his game. It picked up after that though and he was an absolute force in front of the net.

I reckon he’ll get picked in the top-5 of the draft. It’s really hard to pass on this set of attributes and him being a right-handed shooter doesn’t hurt.

At this point my draft list for the Oilers is looking as such:

  1. Jack Hughes
  2. Kaapo Kaako
  3. Bowen Byram
  4. Dylan Cozens
  5. Kirby Dach
  6. Matthew Boldy
  7. Cole Caufield
  8. Alex Turcotte
  9. Peyton Krebs
  10. Vasili Podkolzin
  11. Philip Broberg
  12. Alex Newhook
  13. Trevor Zegras
  14. Raphael Lavoie
  15. Thomas Harley

I don’t imagine #1-#5 will be around when Edmonton picks, so you could probably start that list at #6.

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OTHER U18 NOTES:
  • Cole Caufield is a scoring machine. I’m not a fan of the rest of his game much, but you cannot ignore the fact that he’s built to shoot and score. One has to wonder if he’ll jump into the top-7.
  • Alex Newhook is the real deal. I was skeptical of him before given he was playing in the BCHL but he is this year’s Matthew Barzal
  • Vasilli Podkolzin’s lack of point production on international ice is interesting. He certainly lit it up on the surfaces in Alberta. He’ll drop because of this but whatever team gets him is getting a really good hockey player. I love his attention to the game when he’s away from the puck.
  • Dmen Tobias Bjornfot and Victor Soderstrom should be swapped in draft rankings. Bjornfot, Sweden’s captain, was very steady and outstanding at moving the puck. He was physical, calculated and rarely made a mistake defending for the Swedes. Soderstrom, on the other hand, was disappointing to me in all those regards.
  • Lots of talk about Phil Tomasino moving up the rankings, I don’t see it. Good player, not great. I like Moose Jaw winger Brayden Tracey better. Tracey was much more engaged in the play I found. Then again, it was only one game.
  • Sweden’s duo of Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond are going to be ridiculous going into next season as they mature physically and mentally. They’re underagers at this tourney and were simply dominant on nearly every shift. The world juniors are going to be must-see tv in 2020.
  • Yaroslav Askarov, said to be the best goaltender to come out of Russia since Andrei Vasilevsky, is the real deal. Not draft eligible until 2020 though… I think the Russians might’ve taken over from Finland as Europe’s netminding factory…
  • Whichever team that drafts Spencer Knight is getting a beauty. He might be the best puckhandling goalie since Martin Brodeur. If that’s too far back for you, Mike Smith? When Bob McKenzie says this guy could end up being the best goalie to come out of “The Program” ever, he’s not lying.
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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Edmonton Oilers: Katz Looking to Replace Nicholson According to Inside Source

Early this morning, I was contacted by one of my sources and what I was told wasn’t shocking. It was nothing I hadn’t already been aware of thanks to Nick Kypreos and other NHL insiders. But what did stand out for me was the urgency to get the message out.

I was told, “The fans have to know what’s going on. They’ve been in the dark too long and nobody is saying a f*cking thing.” and “Just copy and paste everything I say.”

It wasn’t the type of language I was used to in dialogues that I’d had in the past with this source.

My feeling is that changes really are coming and they’re going to be sweeping. It sounds like Darryl Katz has been embarrassed by those running his team and their actions and that he’s going to be taking some real action.

I’ve found that the one thing people with money hate most is being embarrassed or having their brand humiliated and regarded as one of the worst in its industry. I reckon we’re at that point with Katz.

Now, some might feel that Katz is out there sitting on a bed of money not giving two shits about his team but I’d be willing to bet that he knows more than a lot of fans choose to believe. As if he doesn’t hear what the fanbase is saying from his family and friends.

We’ve heard Elliotte Friedman talk about a “crisis of confidence” and how that is affecting Katz’s bottom line and if you’re an owner of a hockey team, you can handle losing some money each year. It happens. But can you handle losing money AND being lumped into the same sentence as Eugene Melnyk every week?

Let’s get into this thread on Twitter a bit.

DARRYL KATZ

“Katz heard Bob’s comments. He’s not impressed. Sounds like he himself will find a POHO and then that POHO will hire a GM.”

“Katz isn’t impressed. Gave Nick some shit. Sounds like Katz will hire the POHO and remove the hockey side from under Nicholson.”

“Katz isnt a public eye kind of Owner. He doesn’t want to be and never has been obviously.”

Nicholson really screwed the pooch with those Rieder comments but not so much in that he’s embarrassed the player or himself but more in that he’s made the team (aka brand) look terrible all the while preaching character and culture.

This isn’t the first time this year that Katz has laid into Nicholson. I’m under the impression he let Nicholson know what for when McLellan was fired and Chiarelli was let go.

The patience has worn thin and the people he’s trusted to manage his investment have failed. You would have to wonder if he’ll go back to the Hockey Canada well for more help though because it hasn’t really worked out.

Katz has been thrust into the public eye now. He doesn’t like it one bit it sounds. Hence why you never see the guy at those season ticket events.

THE NEW GM

“Well Katz quietly wants Holland for POHO potentially and McCrimmon as GM if possible. If not Holland, he will find someone else. I know the fans don’t want Holland but he wouldn’t be the GM. McCrimmon would be the GM and get FULL autonomy.”

This goes right in line with what Nick Kypreos said on Headlines this weekend and what Elliotte Friedman was talking about recently on the 31 Thoughts podcast. Although he pontificated on Holland as GM and Glen Gulutzan as the head coach I believe.

A lot of fans really don’t want Ken Holland as the team’s President of Hockey Operations and I get that his team hasn’t been great in recent years but this is a man who has been at the head of one of the greatest hockey dynasties ever. You wouldn’t want that sort of knowledge being part of the brain trust in Edmonton? He’s not going to be GM. So he won’t be making the deals and signings.

As for Kelly McCrimmon, the Oilers want to focus on skill and speed, right?

 

What better template to copy than that of the Vegas Golden Knights? So go out and get the man that is partly responsible for said template. IF you can convince him NOT to go to Seattle…

ON THE TEAM

“I expect a full sweep coming.” This is talking about the pro scouting I believe.

“The team has not improved. Chia never listened but at the same time the team needs to win. It really sucks ass but things need to turn around here. Pete isolated himself hardcore for half last season and all of this season. The word needs to get out.”

“The focus was on big heavy hockey for a long time. But now it’s back to speed and skill. A lot of people in the org disagreed with Pete over most of his trades. I mean, where do I begin. That’s why he isolated himself as fast as he did.”

“The Ottawa loss did it for me. Boys didn’t even compete that much. They’ve given up. It pisses me off. Keith is doing his best and honestly. He’s a great guy. He uses EVERYONE. Everyone. He uses all of his sources. I really like Keith. I couldn’t stand Peter.”

“The Oilers won’t make the playoffs. Thats the thing. They don’t believe in Koski. You can see it on the ice. He lets in a bad goal every game. The new contract for him is awful”

It’s hard not to believe that the pro scouts are going to be cleaned out. When Jason Gregor asked Nicholson about the openness of changes to the pro scouting department, I believe the reply was, “definitely’.

So does that mean the three guys they have employed as pro scouts are gone? It could. It could also mean that the head scout is removed too. My thought is that if Chiarelli really went into isolation with Duane Sutter and Ken Hitchcock (talk about some pro-heavy hockey men) in the final months of his tenure, one of those gentlemen are gone, why wouldn’t the other two be as well? And there’s a pretty good feeling that Hitch won’t be back behind the bench next year, so that leaves Sutter.

I’m not as worried about Koskinen as some. Sure his glove hand works but at least he saves the first shot of the game/period. Maybe the Oilers look at a new goalie coach? Because didn’t Talbot get beat quite a bit on the glove-hand too? Or at least over his shoulders?

MORE ON NICHOLSON

“Katz is removing the Hiring from Nicholson. He’s going to hire a POHO himself who will then hire a GM. Oilers culture is fast, aggressive hockey. Attack attack attack. Exciting hockey. Nicholson couldn’t even answer the culture question with Gregor.”

“The Oilers at one point were the fastest team in the NHL. Now, they’re among the slowest. It’s going to change. Otherwise the fans will drop like flies.”

“Nicholson is being removed to focus on expanding the brand on the business side with Lowe. Katz will hire a POHO to fix this shit.”

“Katz doesn’t want to feel like a Harrold Ballard so to speak. He doesn’t want that label. And if the fans can’t realize that, then I don’t know. Leafs fans hated that shit back in the day.”

When Gregor asked Nicholson about hiring a POHO and the reply was that the GM would be the priority, I had to question this. Why would a team do that? Unless of course, the POHO candidate was already in the organization… Would Wayne Gretzky step in there? He held that position with Team Canada at the Olympics, no? Would Kevin Lowe take the job on the short term as he’s been in that chair under Nicholson before? Ken Hitchcock? Craig MacTavish?

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POSSIBLE SUMMER MOVES

“I do personally believe that MacT will stay on. He runs Bako and they’re killing it.”

“Hall is open to returning. At a DISCOUNT price. That’s all I’ll say on that. I can’t say more.”

“Lucic is in a handshake agreement to move in the offseason. Then we would bring Hall back. I can’t say much more.”

“It would be Lucic and a piece on D. About 10M leaving off the cap after Lucic is paid his bonus”

I’ve heard that MacTavish will stay on and that he’ll be dismissed. So who knows with that one. Could Keith Gretzky do that job just as well? Probably but I won’t pretend to know what all goes into performing the duties the position entails.

I’ve just felt this year that maybe it’s time for folks like MacTavish and/or Howson to move on and for the Oilers to bring in fresh(er) blood.

Bob Stauffer’s been touting Hall back to Edmonton for a few months now. Combine that with the rumored return of Jordan Eberle and the Oilers trading for Sam Gagner… It’s almost insane to think that Taylor Hall would come back after all the BS he went through but I’ll say this, I wasn’t a huge fan when he was in Edmonton but if he came back at a discount, I’d be willing to forget about his first stint with the team.

Tons of people don’t believe the Oilers can move Lucic. I’m not one of those. I do believe there are GMs who exist that value his skillset and would be willing to make a move for him. Now, if it’s him and a defender whose contracts add up to around $10M that are moved, who’s the dman going with him?

Lucic – $6M

Klefbom – $4.1M
Larsson – $4.1M
Russell – $4M
Nurse – $3.2M

I imagine Andrej Sekera is an option as well but I think the team really values his locker room presence and puck moving and they’d prefer to move Russell. I can’t wait until the trade is announced… I am very curious as to what team would take on two of those five players.

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It’s really hard to speculate on any moves without the team having a general manager in place though. I believe that some headway was made on summer moves but it’ll be up to the new guy to agree to or augment them to his liking.

One name I want to throw out there that isn’t getting that much traction is LA’s Mike Futa. I’m reading a book right now called, “The Art of Scouting” by Shane Malloy and inside there are some stories from scouts about the hijinks involved amongst the scouting fraternity. I’ll share one here,

“There are so many good people in the industry and I’ve become good friends with Keith Gretzky of the Phoenix Coyotes, and we have ongoing pranks with those guys. I remember two years ago at the NHL draft our schedules crossed, so we knew which players they were metting with and we knew they wanted defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, like hugely. We also knew that we wanted to take a forward, but nobody else knew that; they assumed but they didn’t know for sure.

I remember we had the name bars written up for the prospects at the draft. We saw Evander Kane went to Atlanta and I leaned back and took a deep breath. Then I just look to my right and Gretz (Keith Gretzky) looked at me and his eyes were burning through me and he gave me a look that said, “Who are you taking?” and I mouthed back to him, “Ekman-Larsson.” He just about fell off his chair and his whole face turned white and he began go sweat. We started to dig into the bag of name bars we had. We were taking Brayden Schenn all the way-if he was there, he was our guy. But it looked like the Coyotes staff were freaking out. Gretz told me later that they said, “I thought you were friends,” and “What the f*ck?” At that time, I was shuffling through the bag for the Ekman-Larsson name bar so I could pull that out to even add a little more pain.

If you click that link above and buy the book, you’ll be helping me a bit. It’s an affiliate link, so I’ll get a small commission for it.

So if Mike Futa gets the job a job in Edmonton… Don’t be surprised if Keith Gretzky has a lot to do with it.

Lastly, it’s really interesting who comes in with the kind words when the rumors align with their own thoughts about the direction of the club. “I don’t normally support these kinds of rumors but…”

Give me a break…

What do you think about the quotes above? Let me know in the comments below!

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