Mostly this thread is popcorn eating but it's funny that good acquisitions made during Ken Holland's tenure cannot in any way be attributed to Ken Holland and in fact can only be credited as being made in spite of him.
Speculation: Holland & Columbus. Columbus & Holland. In it together. How? Why?
- Thread starter Ritchie Valens
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VainGretzky
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A good GM is important what is more important is a good scouting staff because without it you're spinning wheels and going nowhere
Sure. Give him Ekholm and Hyman. Still tilted heavily in the badMostly this thread is popcorn eating but it's funny that good acquisitions made during Ken Holland's tenure cannot in any way be attributed to Ken Holland and in fact can only be credited as being made in spite of him.
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Heavy Dee
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guymez
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What a intriguing potential scenario.
Can you imagine the optics if that were to happen?
Ritchie Valens
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He is on an expiring contract and his body of work has been sub-par in my opinion. He gets another ring, his name on it again so I don’t think he or the org will care…but as usual the media whores will drag Edmonton through the mud for letting Ken walk after winning a cup.
guymez
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I agree the media almost never paints Edmonton is a postiive light.
To @Heavy Dee 's point I cant recall something like that ever happening.
Not re-signing a GM immediately after a Stanley Cup win would be a major slap in the face unless of course its labelled as a retirement. But with the reports on how he is doing interviews with other teams doesnt suggest retirement for Holland.
Very interesting to think about.
NashtoNowitzki
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One good trade and one good signing in 5 years. If the Oilers win the Cup in spite of Holland they should intentionally misspell his name on it.
Ritchie Valens
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Faelko
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And it’s hard to point out the good things he has done without being labeled a Holland supporter.Mostly this thread is popcorn eating but it's funny that good acquisitions made during Ken Holland's tenure cannot in any way be attributed to Ken Holland and in fact can only be credited as being made in spite of him.
FTR: I’m glad he’s going and I won’t miss him but I will acknowledge that he’s done some good in his time here to go with some truly awful things.
guymez
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I am with you.
Holland has done some good things but I just dont think that the good outweighs the bad nearly enough.
Faelko
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He’s had lots of meh moves as well, drafting has been atrocious too. Hyman and Ekholm additions were great but then he handcuffs himself with the Nurse and Campbell contracts.
Happy he’s leaving but I’m not getting too excited about a new GM just yet, I’ve been burnt the last 3 hires…haha.
SIMMONS SAYS: The summer of Mitch Marner is already upon us ... everywhere
Simmons Says - the usual collection of thoughts, dots and shots from the paste week in sports
torontosun.com
This is unusual: GM Don Waddell is leaving a great Carolina team for a not-so-great team in Columbus. That doesn’t happen often. But is he going alone? He may not be. Some NHL GMs believe Edmonton boss Ken Holland could be heading to Columbus along with Waddell and Holland’s son, Brad. Waddell was assistant GM to Holland on the ’98 Stanley Cup-champion Red Wings. The two have been close ever since. If it happens, Waddell and Holland would be in senior hockey positions and Brad Holland would be learning the GM’s job alongside two experienced successful mentors …
Ritchie Valens
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That’s a pretty big development in this saga. Both Hollands going though,SIMMONS SAYS: The summer of Mitch Marner is already upon us ... everywhere
Simmons Says - the usual collection of thoughts, dots and shots from the paste week in sports
This is unusual: GM Don Waddell is leaving a great Carolina team for a not-so-great team in Columbus. That doesn’t happen often. But is he going alone? He may not be. Some NHL GMs believe Edmonton boss Ken Holland could be heading to Columbus along with Waddell and Holland’s son, Brad. Waddell was assistant GM to Holland on the ’98 Stanley Cup-champion Red Wings. The two have been close ever since. If it happens, Waddell and Holland would be in senior hockey positions and Brad Holland would be learning the GM’s job alongside two experienced successful mentors …
McDNicks17
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If there's one man that can finally turn the Blue Jackets around, it's a guy whose only NHL experience prior to his dad hiring him was booking hotel rooms for the Leafs.
Behind Enemy Lines
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C-Bus has been a disaster franchise. Have hired first time general managers going back to Doug Maclean. They need to stabilize the top end of their organization and Waddell will do that. And if Holland goes there too ... frankly who cares.SIMMONS SAYS: The summer of Mitch Marner is already upon us ... everywhere
Simmons Says - the usual collection of thoughts, dots and shots from the paste week in sports
This is unusual: GM Don Waddell is leaving a great Carolina team for a not-so-great team in Columbus. That doesn’t happen often. But is he going alone? He may not be. Some NHL GMs believe Edmonton boss Ken Holland could be heading to Columbus along with Waddell and Holland’s son, Brad. Waddell was assistant GM to Holland on the ’98 Stanley Cup-champion Red Wings. The two have been close ever since. If it happens, Waddell and Holland would be in senior hockey positions and Brad Holland would be learning the GM’s job alongside two experienced successful mentors …
I suspect the GM in waiting though is Rick Nash who's been steadily building up his management resume with the Jackets and Team Canada. Home grown organizational guy who can get direct mentorship from two hockey lifers. Brad Holland has a very light resume. If he follows Dad it's likely a sign that Jeff Jackson is reshaping the new hockey operations department with his GM hire and supporting new person with a better cast around him.
After a decade + of revolving management and coaching staffs, the Oilers have finally broken through to a Final 4 level team. Time to see how Jeff Jackson imagines building up a quality, sustainable winning organization. His next hire will be his biggest and most important.
Heavy Dee
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Behind Enemy Lines
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I don't view Ekholm as some sort of scouting coup. He was a well established quality veteran d and known quantity. There had been speculation on the guy for a long while before based on Nashville wanting to reduce some salary cap from a top heavy d-corp.
With a sub-par defense, the Oilers were locked into a top 4 D upgrade and the search narrowed to Chychrun and Ekholm. The deal gets made because the GM bet their historic PP could be sustained by Bouchard while flipping out Barrie to make the money work. That's a big bet by a veteran GM. But again Ekholm was/is a known quantity. Same with Hyman.
Pro scouting hasn't uncovered any value finds which is where the juice needs to be with this function. Campbell is an unmitigated disaster fail for all involved led by pro scouting through which the dossier on potential starting goaltenders needed to flow through.
Holland JR. is largely unproven.
Heavy Dee
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