While Ken Holland has been on the job for a week and a half already, it doesn’t appear as if the Oilers have made much headway in their head coaching search. The new GM told Postmedia’s Jim Matheson that he’s working off of a list of 12-14 potential candidates at the moment and while he won’t be interviewing that many, he’s still in the information gathering stage at this point. With interviews still to follow after that, Holland acknowledged that it could still be a couple of weeks before they have their new bench boss in place.
Elsewhere around the Pacific:
- The Canucks have serious interest in Swedish defenseman Victor Soderstrom for the upcoming draft, reports Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. The 18-year-old spent most of the season with Brynas of the SHL and acquitted himself rather well, logging over 17 minutes per night. Vancouver is in need of a top right-shot defender in their organization so it’s no surprise that he’s one they’re eyeing for the number ten slot. GM Jim Benning also stated that he would look into the cost of moving up in the first round.
- Coyotes winger Josh Archibald was dealing with some shoulder issues at the end of the season, notes Craig Morgan of The Athletic (subscription required). He still played regularly down the stretch but only recorded a point in one of his final 16 games. The 26-year-old is slated to be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility in July and will be owed a $735K qualifying offer. Despite the poor finish, he still wound up with a career-best 22 points in 68 games on the season.
Soderstrom looks like an absolute rock solid top-4 RD.