News Article: Brad Holland no longer Assistant GM

[FlameChampion]

I'm also pretty sure Coffey really liked Hyman and told the team to sign him too.

At the end of the day we just don't know what some of these guys really do. Even when they have a list of roles/duties you still truly don't know if the guy is good.

I remember Stu back in the day talking about the drafts and how the one year Tambo wanted them to identify guys that had good work ethic and leadership. So is it Stu's fault when guys busted because they didn't have the needed talent to be NHLers, or Tambo for directing him to look for these types of guys.

That’s honestly the problem for so many of these things. We don’t what kind of direction the people above are given.

Even someone who is a GM, we don’t know how much meddling the Owner or President or other advisors have and what impact they play.

 

[fireantz]

More important to the discussion is who is available (or is neeed) to come in to bolster the management team!

 

[joestevens29]

More important to the discussion is who is available (or is neeed) to come in to bolster the management team!

I'd look at who Bowman worked with in the past.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Apparently he held two roles so Bowman was asked if he was hiring two people to replace him. Bowman said they are going to look at the hiring over the next few weeks but didn’t say if hiring one or two people.

Interesting to hear that. I'd like to hear more. He was head of the Pro Scouting function and then promoted to Assistant GM - allegedly to ward off an external opportunity. I don't know if it was disclosed if his Assistant GM portfolio and responsibilities expanded or if it was moreso a title and pay bump.

I think he probably is a reasonable younger hockey executive. There's probably some innate value having grown up with a lifetime access to the business of hockey management. However he has a thin resume and there was a serious sell job to overstate the obvious with NHL established players like Hyman and Ekholm. A strange quirk was doing public interviews where he would boldly declare his different philosophies than his boss aka Dad like being more aggressive on trade fronts. It came across as some insecurity or over confidence not really professional from the easy seat adjacent to the hot seat reality of the decision maker. Of course that's in context of interviewing with a guy who leads with his opinions and thinks he can do every job better than the guys paid to do so. Playing fantasy Gm is easy stuff.

I'm sure Brad Holland will land in another opportunity and build upon his experience. Best of luck in charting a new direction.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Interesting to hear that. I'd like to hear more. He was head of the Pro Scouting function and then promoted to Assistant GM - allegedly to ward off an external opportunity. I don't know if it was disclosed if his Assistant GM portfolio and responsibilities expanded or if it was moreso a title and pay bump.

I think he probably is a reasonable younger hockey executive. There's probably some innate value having grown up with a lifetime access to the business of hockey management. However he has a thin resume and there was a serious sell job to overstate the obvious with NHL established players like Hyman and Ekholm. A strange quirk was doing public interviews where he would boldly declare his different philosophies than his boss aka Dad like being more aggressive on trade fronts. It came across as some insecurity or over confidence not really professional from the easy seat adjacent to the hot seat reality of the decision maker. Of course that's in context of interviewing with a guy who leads with his opinions and thinks he can do every job better than the guys paid to do so. Playing fantasy Gm is easy stuff.

I'm sure Brad Holland will land in another opportunity and build upon his experience. Best of luck in charting a new direction.

He was both AGM and retained the head of pro scouting. They are actively trying to replace him in the Head of Pro Scouting right now but those duties are being split between JJ, SB and Warren Rychel according to Stauffer.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

He was both AGM and retained the head of pro scouting. They are actively trying to replace him in the Head of Pro Scouting right now but those duties are being split between JJ, SB and Warren Rychel according to Stauffer.

Yes, sorry, I was unclear. I knew that he had the AGM title while still overseeing pro scouting as Director. What I don't know is if the team expanded his responsibilities with the AGM title and, if so, what were the added responsibilities. I'm not sure that was ever articulated.

We (I) only know they added the AGM title because there was apparently external interest in hiring Brad Holland in that capacity. We know Gretzky's key responsibilities and Scott's but I don't know if any additional duties were assigned Brad Holland with the title and promotion.

Personally I can see them promoting Rychel to Director of Pro Scouting with his deep and varied successful experience as a GM, scout, and ex-player. Now the Assistant GM and the scope and experience they might want is maybe a work-in-progress as they assess the gaps in current executive capacities and in their vision for a modern organization. Maybe they look for a strong, information based decision maker like an AGM Tulsky?