Edmonton Oilers Fire Steve Tambellini, Name Craig MacTavish New General Manager
By Josh Hill
The Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of missing the playoffs for a seventh season, and general manager Steve Tambellini won’t be back to see what happens in year eight. After being hired back in 2008 by the Edmonton Oilers, Tambellini has been fired after another miserable losing season in Oiler Country.
Tambellini’s tenure with the Oilers has been up and down at best. While he’s brought in some solid additions for the future of the team, like Jordan Elerbe, Taylor Hall and rookie Nail Yakupov, he’s failed to make it all work and the Oilers have been losers ever since he took over in the middle of this playoff drought.
With Tambellini out the door, the Oilers have named Craig MacTavish the team’s new general manager with Scott Howson assisting as the new VP of Hockey Operations. According to CBC Sports, MacTavish expressed himself as “impatient” and vows to return the Oilers to their glory days with this young roster.
"MacTavish described himself as “impatient,” promising bold action to turn around the Oilers as soon as possible. He cited a lack of depth and a deficit in competitiveness as challenges the club has to overcome."
The Oilers have been hoping that the young acquisitions they’ve made recently would turn into wins, but they’ve turned into more chances to add young talent as Edmonton has owed the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft the last three seasons. In that time the team selected Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov, but while they’ve all showed promise, they haven’t been supported with any adequate veteran presences.
This isn’t the first time in the last ten years that the Oilers are selling hope and change throughout Oiler Country, but the fields are going to begin to burn if this latest attempt to get better falls flat on it’s face.