How would you feel if Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland could convince TWO former NHL all-stars to join the team for the upcoming season? I think that it would be prudent to give it some thought as it sounds like Holland has put on his hard hat and started “THE GRIND” to overhaul this roster.
So in summary this morning @TSNBobMcKenzie said Ken Holland is flying to Detroit today and does not yet have an agreement in place with Dave Tippett.
According to a source of mine, and in addition to the news of Holland going to Detroit this weekend, I’ve been told that the Oilers’ new GM is going to do his damnedest to recruit former Red Wings all-star Pavel Datsyuk.
In addition to that, his is what I was told,
Ken is starting to put his stamp slowly on the team. He wants a fast, quick team. That’s what the Nygard signing is about. Were going to have a busy summer here.
Ken went to Det to talk to Tippett and convince Pavel to come to EDM.
I did mention Ken Holland going to Detroit to possibly convince two former NHL all-stars into possibly joining the Oilers. Well, I think there’s a bearded Swedish fella who once captained the Red Wings but has been on the shelf for some time. I wouldn’t put a ton of hope into that one happening as I think that player is really happy with life at the moment, but the Datsyuk one, I think there’s something to that, for sure.
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The Ask for Milan
It’s been previously reported by Elliotte Friedman on a number of occasions that the Oilers could’ve moved Milan Lucic last season but the ask was too high…. I found out what the ask was and you’re going to shit yourself when you read it.
One first round pick
One b-grade prospect
One top-6 forward
Man… Did Peter Chiarelli really love this guy or what?! Apparently, Chia thought Lucic was joking when he went to him to ask for a trade. Once he realized Lucic was serious, he jacked up the price.
I would venture a guess that the price has come down significantly. Maybe a 2nd rounder will do it but I don’t think the Oilers are going to let him go if it means they lose the trade OR if they have to retain salary. They’d most likely ask for something in return if salary retention is part of the deal.
The Return of the Yak!
If you’re into the conspiracy end of things, you might like this. On the same day that the Oilers announced the signing of Swedish speedster Joakim Nygard, the followed two players on their Instagram account, one being the Swede and the other being Bogdan Yakimov. This got the wheels going, so I asked and I was told that the Oilers ARE talking to him. Most of the front office guys that were around when Yakimov was here before are gone. There was friction.
Is Bogdan Yakimov coming back to play in Edmonton?
Personally, I’m not too sure about Big Yak. He hasn’t exactly lit up the KHL since he left North America and this year he managed to find a way to play on three different teams… He’s a bigger body and that leads me to suspect that he’s not that fleet of foot and with the team already having Jujhar Khaira and Milan Lucic providing the beef, is adding this 24-year-old Russian tank overkill?
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I’m very excited to see this player. I compared him to Andreas Athanasiou in the link above and I really think he could develop into this sort of player and if not that, then a taller version of Todd Marchant. The speed and tenacity is there and I’m absolutely sure that Nygard will be a massive threat on the PK, in the same manner, Michael Grabner has been for the Coyotes, Rangers, and Devils in the past.
The first time he breaks away from the other team’s defense, you’re going to be mouth agape. He’s ridiculously fast and I’d bet you he gives Connor McDavid a run for his money at next year’s fastest skater competition.
The other thing you’re going to like about him is that he has no fear. He LOVES to go to the blue paint. Now, if he can do that AND stay healthy, that remains to be seen.
Still pretty big and slow for my liking. If the Oilers could find a way to move out Lucic and replace him with someone faster, maybe a Gus Nyquist? I think that’d help out a ton. On the other hand, do we want Holland re-creating the Red Wings or building something new? For me, I want a bottom-6 that takes pride in their defense and work ethic. I don’t want prima donnas who aren’t willing to play their roles.
What about you? Let us know in the comments below!
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According to Igor Eronko, a journalist that covers Russian hockey for Sport Express, the Oilers SR VP of Hockey Operations, Craig MacTavish has signed on to coach Lokomotiv of the KHL for the next two seasons.
Craig MacTavish signed a 2-year deal with Lokomotiv of the KHL. Another option for the head coach position was Kari Jalonen
I’ve said previously that the word that was passed on to me was that there was a slight chance Craig MacTavish could stay on and run the Oilers AHL team but I guess after meeting with Ken Holland, the new GM thought it would be better for the two parties to go their separate ways. I do wonder if that means Keith Gretzky will be given MacTavish’s old job as overseer of the Oilers’ AHL team as that is something I’ve also heard from sources in the past?
I do expect to hear others leaving the club as Ken Holland puts his stamp on it. The more prominent names I’d figure to be heading out include Bob Green, Scott Howson, and Duane Sutter. Maybe that happens closer to June. 30th mind you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QpAJM1zeI
Save for a stint coaching in the AHL, MacT had been with the Oilers since 1999! Hellva run I say. It’s too bad they couldn’t seal the deal in ’06.
In Locomotiv, they’re getting a man with a decade plus of coaching experience. MacTavish will join up with former Edmonton Oiler Anton Lander.
So good luck to the last man to play helmetless in the NHL!
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Hell of a press conference introducing Ken Holland as the Oilers new general manager and president of hockey operations yesterday. I feel like somebody might’ve mentioned back in March that Darryl Katz wanted Holland as POHO all along.
"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."
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) March 24, 2019
That’s weird. Rod Pedersen and I can now share the “Ken Holland to the Oilers” spoils. Although I get the feeling that Hot Rod isn’t much for sharing…
Nearly passed over that tweet. I didn’t see the blue checkmark. Well, no matter anyhow. Friedman was talking about Holland long before any of us.
Anyways, we can move on from that and actually talk about the presser now.
I was a bit worried at the beginning of the event. Holland sounded a tad nervous and that’s fine, it was a momentous day in his life. Where he got me was when he started talking about hockey and his vision for the Oilers. He got me fired up when he was talking about how you have to grind. How he loved the challenges. Hearing him speak about scouting games instead of just watching them was something that resonated with me too.
I thought he was the star of the show, but that was until a very ill Darryl Katz was addressed in the Q&A. If you click play below the clip should start right as Mr. Katz starts his epic reply to a question about how he feels about the displeasure being shown by season ticket holders.
Look, I think most people came into this introduction thinking that it was going to be Bob Nicholson or Ken Holland saying something that might be considered a rallying cry to the fans. I would be willing to be ZERO percent thought it would’ve been Katz.
Anybody would’ve understood if he had declined to make himself available considering the shape his health is in. The passion he showed yesterday morning was awe inspiring. Honestly, I never took him to be that sort of guy given the previous interviews I’d seen him featured in, but man, I have the utmost respect for him now. I feel like this is an opportunity to rally around the owner of our team and really throw our support behind the club.
If Mr. Katz can do this for us, surely there’s something we can do for him.
#DoItForDarryl
The Big Three
A lot of names are popping up for the Oilers coaching gig like Jay Woodcroft, Trent Yawney, and Glen Gulutzan from within the team. Ken Holland said he wants to bring change and hiring someone who is already here doesn’t make sense to me. I have it on pretty good authority that the assistant coaches have already been told that it’s up to the new coach as to who will be staying with the team and they have permission to seek employment elsewhere.
It’s my belief that there are three main candidates that will be heavily considered for the vacant head coaching position in Edmonton:
Dave Tippett
Todd Nelson
Lane Lambert
I’m not a huge fan of Dave Tippett and I’m not sure there’s an absolute need to hire a veteran coach just because Calgary, San Jose, and Vegas have veteran coaches. Let’s keep in mind, those are veteran teams as well.
I don’t think it’s got that much to do with his defensive style as it does that he’s been out of the game for some time and when he left, his team’s weren’t exactly winning divisions. That said, he did have some great teams in Dallas and Arizona and he had some highly skilled players playing for him in both cities.
I think Buffalo has eyes on him though… So we’ll see if he can turn this into a bidding war or not.
But I would suggest to you that the New York Islanders’ Lane Lambert is a dark horse candidate. A long-time coaching apprentice of Barry Trotz in Washington and then Long Island, Lambert also played for Holland in Detroit. That Red Wings experience also happened to include time with AHL Adirondack…
I’m slow… I think I’ve been saying he’s an assistant in Washington this whole time on Twitter… Ah well.
Point being, if I recall correctly, this is a coach that was a serious candidate for the Colorado Avalanche before they settled on Jared Bednar and has been in the running for multiple coaching jobs since. I don’t know much about him or the role he’s played on Barry Trotz’s bench over the years mind you. I will say that if there’s a coach you want mentoring you at the NHL level today; it’s probably Trotz and if he’s anything like his teacher, he’s going to be a helluva bench boss some day.
My support is behind Todd Nelson. When he’s running the bench, his players produce and his teams win. I mean, he found a way to make Anton Lander a productive NHLer! I look back at how he reinvigorated Nail Yakupov and I can’t help but think that he’s just what the doctor ordered for Jesse Puljujarvi.
This is a guy who gets it. He knows how to man-manage, he knows how to communicate with the young players and the vets. He has a history with Ken Holland being that when the Red Wings AHL affiliate won the Calder Cup, Nelson was the head coach of that team.
He’s been interviewed countless times since leaving the Oilers organization. Other NHL teams want this guy guiding their players and I think it’s time to bring him home to finish what he started back in 2014.
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2019 Draft Notes
As I have it today, the Oilers should be selecting USNTDP forward Matthew Boldy. He’s a 6’2″ 190lb Boston College commit that can play every forward position effectively and that’s something that I think holds a lot of value. If you have a player like that on your team, it’s basically like holding the trump card. When injuries or slumps hit, he can fill in where needed.
Other things I really like about him are:
His vision is elite. He can make high-end passes in the most compromising of positions and hit his teammate on the tape near every time.
He’s a very underrated goal scorer. Cole Caufield racked up the goals this year for “The Program” but not many people know that Boldy was the 2nd highest goal scorer on that team.
He stirs the drink. You’re probably thinking that he’s the recipient of playing on one of the most talent-laden teams in junior hockey history, but I’m here to tell you that his linemates were the ones that benefitted the most. As I watched him play on a line at the u18 tournament in Sweden with Alex Turcotte and Bobby Brink or Trevor Zegras, I noticed he drove that line on every shift and the play went through him.
He knows where to go on the ice before the puck gets there. Now usually when we say something like this we mean that on the offensive side of the game, but I’m talking about both sides of the puck.
He’s got NHL size already. He’ll only need one season at Boston College before he’s ready to join the Oilers in my opinion.
He wins board battles smartly. Even though he’s got the size to do some damage, he’s such a cerebral player along the boards and wins those battles often.
If there’s something that he’ll have to work on, it’s his speed and quickness. His edgework is fantastic but he could use some more power and nimbleness in those legs.
I’d take Boldy over almost every player that is rated in the top-ten save for Hughes and Kakko and Byram. I think he’s a more rounded forward than Dach, Cozens, and Turcotte. He’s way more responsible and lower risk than Zegras and Krebs. Better offensively than Podkolzin I think but the Russian is quite proficient on the defensive side, so it might be a toss-up there.
If you want Leon Draisaitl on his own line AND scoring 50 goals annually, having Boldy on the German’s left/right wing would go a long way to making that happen.
My 2019 top-fifteen looks like this:
Kaapo Kakko – RW – TPS (SM-Liiga)
Jack Hughes – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
Bowen Byram – LD – Vancouver (WHL)
Matthew Boldy – LW/C/RW – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
Dylan Cozens – C – Lethbridge (WHL)
Alex Turcotte – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
Peyton Krebs – C – Kootenay (WHL)
Cole Caufield – RW – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
Kirby Dach – C – Saskatoon (WHL
Vasili Podkolzin – C – SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)
Philip Broberg – LD – AIK (SHL)
Spencer Knight – G – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
Alex Newhook – C – Victoria (BCHL)
Trevor Zegras – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
Raphael Lavoie – RW – Halifax (QMJHL)
What’s going to make it interesting is if there’s a team that really wants Cole Caufield or Philip Broberg and are willing to move into the top-8 to pick them. Or if there’s a team drafting ahead of Edmonton that has eyes on those two.
If you remember last year, the Oilers had their choice of Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, or Oliver Wahlstrom. This is going to happen again.
A Milan Lucic Trade Proposal
I don’t know if Ken Holland will be able to move Looch or not but he did find a way to trade Pavel Datsyuk’s contract back in 2016, right?
Back in June, 2016, Ken Holland sent Pavel Datsyuk and the #16 OV pick to ARI for Joe Vitale, #20 ov (Chowolski), and #53 ov (Hronek).
Might he revisit ARI with a similar offer this year? #Oilers have the 8th overall and Arizona has the 14th…
Lucic+8th ov for 14th ov?
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) May 8, 2019
Now, It doesn’t have to be Arizona obviously but I do reckon that Holland is all-in on this draft and if he can help it, he’s not interested leaving the draft without a pick in the first round. So perhaps a team that is looking to move up that has multiple 1st rounders would have some interest in a trade?
Funny, all the rumors of a Lucic/Eriksson swap going on and the draft being in Vancouver… What better time to strike a deal?!
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It’s going to be a momentous day in Oilers history when they finally get around to publicly announcing the hiring of Ken Holland as the Oilers next general manager, but you’d never know it if you hopped on the socials. The vocal minority is hard at work shaping the opinion of fence sitting Oilers fans everywhere. How do I know this? Check out whose backs got up in hurry after this tweet from Gord Miller,
When the Oilers circled back with an offer this week, Ken Holland called friends in the game to get their thoughts. One of them warned him about the poisonous atmosphere around the team. “You’ll get killed on social media,” he warned. “I’m not on social media,” Holland replied.
Nearly 2000 likes and over 300 retweets but look at all the people talking abou it… Says enough to me. If you’re brave, click on the tweet and read the replies.
I’ll touch on this briefly and then move on.
There is a reason that players ask for more money (and get it) when negotiating with the Oilers. Be they of Edmonton property or simply free agents, the “tax” that this team pays to bring in other players is real and it has nothing to do with how small of a market it is or how cold it gets during the winters and don’t blame it on management either. The “tax” has been around since before they were running the show… I’ll leave it at that.
I know I named this post “Reasons to Love, Hate, and Be Cautious about Ken Holland” but there’ll be no hate in this post. It’s not a term I like to use in my vernacular. So instead I’ve replaced it with sarcasm as you’ll soon read.
A Few Reasons Why Ken Holland is the Right Choice
The book on Holland around the league is that he is a team player. His communication skills are top-notch. He doesn’t micromanage either. Something he probably learned from Jim Devellano who learned it from Bill Torrey. Both Stanley Cup-winning GMs for what it’s worth.
He is known to be a VERY good problem solver and a tremendous manager of people. Peter Chiarelli probably could’ve used some time in his presence and learned a thing or two.
His top character traits being that he’s devoid of ego, a very humble gentleman, and he brings a burning passion for the game of hockey to the office, day-in, and day-out. This is a GM that won’t be afraid to be seen at hockey games across North America and Europe.
His resume is as good as you’re going to find. Full stop. This is a job that requires a steady hand and a shite ton of wisdom, not a rookie GM that has yet to experience the speed bumps that accompany doing the job for the first time.
In hiring Holland you not only get the best general manager in the game for the last 30 years, but you also get one of the elite mentors who himself has learned from some of the best minds in the game (Scotty Bowman, Jim Devellano (who learned from Bill Torrey), and Bryan Murray). So if the Oilers have an executive that they’d like to have groomed to be the general manager of the team someday, now they’ve got the best teacher to do said mentoring.
This dovetails nicely into the next chapter entitled, “How to Change Your Team’s Culture”
When’s the last time Holland made a terrible hockey trade? I’ll hang up and listen.
This is a man who not only slashed a $77M payroll in half to become salary cap compliant but also managed to stay on top of the league standings!
He won multiple Stanley Cups in two different eras!
By most accounts, Ken Holland is as professional as they come, and has no ego (exception, not the norm). Not to mention he ran the most successful NHL organization of the last three decades. I’d take him as my GM, regardless of DET recent struggles. https://t.co/cOrLsY0XZw
This is the low-hanging fruit that all the galaxy brained Oilers “supporters” are grabbing onto this weekend and it just goes to show you how deep their intelligence really goes.
Once where small sample sizes were frowned upon, now a three year run out of the playoffs is enough to tarnish a run of 25 consecutive years of playoff appearances. Maybe their thinking is that the run would never end.
Building and running those great teams had nothing to do with Ken Holland, he was just the lucky recipient of having good players on his team like any good team’s GM is only so lucky to have good players.
“He walked into an already stacked team when he was named GM of the Red Wings in ’97.” As if he wasn’t part of the scouting department who drafted most of the players that were part of his first NHL championship.
“He’s terrible at cap management!” He didn’t leave Yzerman around $10M in cap room to play with going into next season or anything. Then once Zetterberg, Franzen, and any other player with a mystery illness is put on LTIR, they’ll have a massive chunk of cash available to use… So terrible.
“He’s too old and out of touch.” Meanwhile Jim Rutherford is over there in Pittsburgh shining the rings he won with the Penguins after so many detractors said the same thing about him. Say, how is Don Waddell doing in Carolina?
“His director of amateur scouting, Tyler Wright, doesn’t really have a good record.” Yeah, I’m sure Columbus is hating the fact that they’ve got Boone Jenner, Alexander Wennberg, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Ryan Murray, and Josh Anderson playing for them. Whereas Detroit is probably really sad about Anthony Manta, Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Zadina, Filip Hronek, Dennis Chowolski, Joe Veleno, Jared McIsaac, etc. in their organization. Terrible drafting by Tyler Wright… Would HATE to have someone like that contributing to the Oilers.
“He doesn’t believe in using analytics!” There’s a quote going around from 2014 that has Holland saying he uses gut-analytics and this is something the Anti-Holland crowd is attempting to use as a leg to stand on. They fail to realize that in 2015 the Red Wings hired a fella by the name of Bryan Campbell to head their analytics dept.”Not only will Campbell be taking care of statistics, he will handle salary efficiency, trends, contract evaluations, scouting and CBA related issues. Seems like they got themselves a true all-in-one Hockey Administration guy.” (source)
Will this brain be joining the revolution in Edmonton?
Amazing to me how people are saying Ken Holland is a bad GM because the Red Wings naturally regressed after decades of dominance, completely ignoring everything he did to make that team the juggernaut it was.
The folks leading the #FireHolland brigade are simply the OBC of Oilers Twitter. People with massive egos who think they’re smarter than everyone else. (I borrowed that from my Mo Jaber)
They’re all pissy because Bob Nicholson went about and performed this extensive search (something they wanted him to do), interviewed all these guys that they really loved and hoped he would hire, and then out of nowhere got his buddy to come and do the job. Grrrr. How frustrating!
Mark Hunter was touted as the man leading the race for the position but was he really ever? And if he was, what’s his record with signing free agents and making trades? His draft record wasn’t anything to write home about.
The same questions could be asked of Keith Gretzky. What trades does he have on his resume that could be used to make a judgment on? What about his work with contracts? His draft record is infinitely better than that of Hunter’s.
And then there’s Sean Burke. I don’t know anything about this guy apart from he’s spent a lot of time in the west scouting for the Montreal Canadiens. What’s his resume look like past that?
As I said before, this is a job that needs experience, confidence, passion, wisdom, and patience. There’s no room for mistakes this time around and so if the only complaint you have about the Oilers hiring Ken Holland is that he’s had a few rough years with the cap, that sounds like you were determined not to like the hire from the get-go.
The fact of the matter is, the best man for the job made himself available after the 2nd best man took himself out of the running. I respect the fact that Darryl Katz is willing to open up his wallet and hire the best, even if it means his buddies will be working elsewhere in 2019/20…
Lowetide likes to say that after a while you develop a history and Mr. Holland has developed a history of winning. What better person to seek and root out all the problems in Edmonton?
Ken Holland jumping into the cold and perilous management waters of the @EdmontonOilers inspires me. The cushy, easy thing would be to stay in Detroit and coast. Doesn’t fit him. Holland is a grinder. Focused and impervious to ease. I hope he kills it & helps bring McDavid a Cup
There’s a lot of work to be done with the Oilers roster. These days Holland hasn’t made a lot of player for player trades, just a lot of players for draft picks. How is he planning to turn over his playing personnel?
One fact that does remain is the Red Wings haven’t made it out of the 1st round of the playoffs in 6 years. The last time they did was in 2012/13 where they bowed out to the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games. Can he reverse this trend in Edmonton?
I’ve haven’t been a fan of Jimmy Howard really and Holland, it seems, never really wanted to move away from him. He was loyal to Howard, almost to a fault. The one thing he has almost always had was a decent backup. Manny Legace, Ty Conklin, Chris Osgood, Norm Maracle, and more recently Jonathan Bernier for example.
I’m not sure he made the right choice in hiring Jeff Blashill as head coach. I’m sure there was a host of other really good candidates but Todd Nelson was right there running their AHL team. This will be of great concern to me as I’m very much in favor of the team re-visiting Nelson as head coach.
If you think Ken Holland is taking a new opportunity and not learning from his mistakes in Detroit, I feel bad for your present/future employees. That kind of pessimism is seriously impressive.
If it’s not obvious, I’m stoked for this hiring. I’m not scared of Ken Holland’s recent history, I see it as a necessary evil. After 25 years of winning, there had to be a comedown at some point.
I will support this GM as I did the last one and I will attempt to understand his future moves. Just as I did with Chiarelli, I’ll let you know if I like the move or not, even if that does involve the team trading Jesse Puljujarvi or Adam Larsson. I’m here to support the club in good times and bad, as I feel that is what a good supporter does.
This team is not far off from being a playoff contender again. With a little luck (aka health) and this hiring of a man who will rise above the local politics, I can see Edmonton being back in the race as early as next season.
Now we’ve got the amateur/pro scout meetings this week and then I assume Keith Gretzky will be running the draft and after that, it’s go time!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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