Edmonton Oilers reportedly close to hiring Ken Holland
According to multiple reports, the Edmonton Oilers are nearing a deal with Ken Holland. He’ll serve as their general manager.
The Edmonton Oilers fired Peter Chiarelli as their general manager back in January. Since then, they’ve been looking for a new general manager. According to multiple reports, the Oilers are close to hiring Ken Holland as their new general manager.
He is currently serving as the Senior Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings. Holland served as their general manager from 1997 until April of 2019, when the team hired Steve Yzerman.
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The Oilers have reportedly been interested in him since about March, but Mark Spector of Sportsnet is reporting talks have gotten much more serious as of late. According to Spector, Holland will be given the power to hire and fire whoever he wants.
Is He A Good Hire?
Edmonton needed to hire someone from outside the organization. Holland fits that description, so already, that’s a huge win. Sticking with Keith Gretzky, who is their interim GM, would have been disastrous.
However, this still reeks a bit of the “good old boys club” Oilers fans know and hate. CEO Bob Nicholson is friendly with Holland, as the two are familiar with each other from their days with Hockey Canada.
Considering a huge problem with the Oilers has been their tendency to go with their friends over the best candidates when hiring people (or simply not even had an interview process), this probably isn’t going to be a good hire if it happens.
Granted, it’s promising Holland has the power to hire and fire who he wants. Perhaps it’s a sign owner Darryl Katz and Nicholson both realize they’re a part of the problem. However, Holland hasn’t been a successful general manager for years.
He has taken a once-promising Red Wings team to the basement of the NHL. Instead of rebuilding, Holland elected to try to squeeze the last few drops out of his team to try to make the playoffs. The Red Wings are currently paying for those mistakes.
Furthermore, Holland’s track record over the last five years is alarming. Two of the biggest Oilers mistakes under Chiarelli were signing Milan Lucic and extending Kris Russell. Sadly, only the former is in their top three.
Holland made two very similar decisions when he signed Justin Abdelkader to a huge extension and defenseman Danny DeKeyser. When you think about the worst contract the Red Wings have, there are so many options. That’s an indictment on Holland.
The last thing the Oilers need is a buddy of Nicholson’s. What they needed was the best possible candidate. One who could solve what’s in the water in Edmonton. There were guys like that out there. Sean Burke, for one, even has Hockey Canada experience (albeit not under Nicholson) and would have been a great hire. Instead, the Oilers are going with a retread.
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As the great Pete Townsend once sang, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”. Nothing Holland has done over the past five years suggests he’s the guy who will take the Oilers out of their current hole. It’s far more likely he’ll just dig deeper.