Edmonton Oilers in line to hire Ken Holland as next general manager
The Edmonton Oilers’ search for a new general manager is reportedly complete, with Ken Holland set to be hired.
As the Edmonton Oilers continued their search for a new general manager, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported Saturday they offered Ken Holland a five-year, $25 million contract. Now, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Holland is set to be announced as the Oilers’ new general manager in the next few days.
As long as the paperwork formalities go through as expected, Holland will take over from interim general manager Keith Gretzy and permanently replace Peter Chiarelli. As the Oilers moved toward yet another bad season, Chiarelli was fired in January.
Holland has spent the past 36 seasons in the Detroit Red Wings organization, starting as a scout and serving the last 22 as general manager. But with Steve Yzerman coming back to Detroit to take over general manager duties, Holland became Senior Vice President. He had lingered as a rumored GM candidate for the Seattle expansion franchise, but if Holland doesn’t want to wait the place to go is Edmonton. Perhaps as a nod to his diminished role in Detroit, Dreger added Holland will have full control over hockey operations with the Oilers.
Holland won three Stanley Cups and four Presidents’ Trophies as Red Wings’ general manager, with 13 100-point seasons. But the withering end of Detroit’s 25-season playoff streak, amid some questionable free agent contracts and what has become a three-season streak with no postseason, invites questions about Holland’s ability to run a modern NHL franchise.
With Holland’s most recent track record in mind, it won’t be hard for Oilers’ fans to see a parallel to Chiarelli’s ill-advised moves and fear a repeat in the coming years.
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But if Holland can hire the right coach as his first order of business, with former Coyotes’ coach Dave Tippett and Stars’ assistant Todd Nelson as early rumored candidates, putting workable pieces around a core led by Connor McDavid might not be so difficult.