10:32 a.m.: The Oilers won’t be renewing Holland’s contract, CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson confirmed. The organization didn’t say when the search for his successor would begin, nor did they name an interim GM ahead of tomorrow’s draft.
8:17 a.m.: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Edmonton Oilers will likely allow general manager Ken Holland’s contract to expire on June 30th. Holland would become a free agent at that point, and the expectation is that multiple teams will pursue him to gauge his interest in hockey operations positions. Holland and the Oilers came within one win of the Stanley Cup, which would have been Holland’s fifth had they been successful.
If the Oilers let Holland walk, they will be without a general manager at the most critical time of the year, and as Friedman points out in his article, they could choose to go without a GM in the interim.
Holland has his detractors and had a very uneven run in Edmonton, signing several questionable contracts with Jack Campbell, Darnell Nurse, and Cody Ceci. However, Edmonton never missed the playoffs during Holland’s five-year run and made two Western Conference Finals appearances and one Stanley Cup Final. Holland also made some very savvy moves, notably the signing of 50-goal scorer Zach Hyman, trading for defenseman Mattias Ekholm, and the trade deadline move for Adam Henrique.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported earlier this week that Holland would have a role in Edmonton if he wanted it, but it remains to be seen if he will look for new challenges or simply retire. If this is the End for Holland in Edmonton, he will finish his time there with a 220-121-32 record.
The fact that he’s 68 could figure into it. By the way thanks for not mentioning it in the article, I had to click on his name to find out. If he wants to keep going why would he leave the Oilers? They’re set up for success in the near future. It all boils down to, Has he had enough in the end.
After next season they are very much not set up for success.
Huge contracts for the 3 stars, zero top tier talent in the prospect pipleline…
Taking a quick look at the roster I see 2 horrible contracts in Nurse and Campbell. If you figure out a way around those although I admit the Nurse one is Seth Jones stupid and probably impossible to move without a Quija Board. There’s still a solid team there for next year and would take some shuffling but the Cap is also rising rapidly. I wouldn’t count them out.
@Unclemike1526 — I don’t think he’s leaving the Oilers, but rather they aren’t renewing his contract, so they are leaving him. I’m not feeling the same confidence about the “success for the near future”, due to the Campbell & Nurse contracts, and the fact that the depth players had to be dragged, kicking and screaming to play up to their potential. I’m in wait and see mode.
After the PLB trade, anything can happen.
Does this leave the keys to Keith Gretzky? That’s what I’m worried about…
Bring back Chiarelli!
@MotownWings13 — Hey! That’s just downright mean-spirited! :)