Speculation: Next Oilers GM?

[Fourier]

Really not interested in defending Bowman too much, but as probably the biggest Hawks fan here of that Kane / Toews / Keith etc era, I’ll take a stab at it. He acquired these players that had various impacts on the next two Cups and playoff runs between

Nick Leddy (traded bust Cam Barker)

V Stalberg (decent player, even if not much production in the next Cup run, for Versteeg out, who they could no longer afford)

Acquired the Hayes brothers (overrated but decent)

Drafted Saad with the Flames’ 2nd rounder

Got Frolik for a bust and some spare parts

Drafted Danault (unfortunately did not keep the player)

Traded a late pick for signings rights of Steve Montador

Couple of picks for Oduya

4th for Handzus

Couple of picks for Rundblad

Traded up to draft Nick Schmaltz

Not many of these are really home runs but some solid transactions here, especially for support players that helped them win Cups. Wheels started to fall off around 14/15 so they were a bit lucky to win that third Cup before stagnation.

Not a very good GM but not as bad as some think. Given the context, certainly not worth it

It would be hard to argue that any of these guys other than Frolik, Saad and maybe Oduya had much of an impact on their cup wins. But all three were really just secondary players and other perhaps more import and depth guys were gone. The core of the Hawks was the same through all 3 cups and under Bowman that team pretty much deteriorated. Not that this was unexpected. But frankly I don't think he deserves a lot of credit for building those winners. For me he was pretty mediocre at best.

 

[Oilhawks]

It would be hard to argue that any of these guys other than Frolik, Saad and maybe Oduya had much of an impact on their cup wins. But all three were really just secondary players and other perhaps more import and depth guys were gone. The core of the Hawks was the same through all 3 cups and under Bowman that team pretty much deteriorated. Not that this was unexpected. But frankly I don't think he deserves a lot of credit for building those winners. For me he was pretty mediocre at best.

The other guys were depth players as well. I watched all of those runs

I wouldn’t give a lot of credit to Tallon if that’s the case. His “I forgot” to qualify the RFAs is a hilariously bad thing and undid all of the good will he had been building. He (understandably) got fired not long afterwards

I don’t think Bowman was expected to change a winning core so not sure why that’s being held against him. He needed to find good support and depth which for the most part was reasonably accomplished. I’d say he was a fairly good GM until 2014-2015. You can disagree, that’s fine, but I can guarantee I watched more Hawks games and poured over more stats etc of theirs than I’d imagine anyone else here did. I would say the players and the coach were the bigger impacts by far but this was no Chiarelli

It’s easy to be more revisionist with a GM when the GM left on bad terms, and even easier when the GM was terrible managing a despicable off ice situation.

 

[Fourier]

The other guys were depth players as well. I watched all of those runs

I wouldn’t give a lot of credit to Tallon if that’s the case. His “I forgot” to qualify the RFAs is a hilariously bad thing and undid all of the good will he had been building.

I don’t think Bowman was expected to change a winning core so not sure why that’s being held against him. He needed to find good support and depth which for the most part was reasonably accomplished. I’d say he was a fairly good GM until 2014-2015. You can disagree, that’s fine, but I can guarantee I watched more Hawks games and poured over more stats etc of theirs than I’d imagine anyone else here did

It’s easy to be more revisionist with a GM when the GM left on bad terms, and even easier when the GM was terrible managing a despicable off ice situation.

It's not really a question of holding anything against him and more so that I don't think he did a whole lot to extend the window. It was going to be open for about the same amount of time regardless of the moves he made. I don't think he was a terrible GM but rather very mediocre.

For me retooling is more than filling in a couple of holes on a championship level team. That is more maintenace. Retooling would be more like replacing a Keith or someone in the core if their game fell off.

 

[Pavel10]

Should the Edmonton Oilers consider hiring Stan Bowman? The inside report on what went wrong in Chicago

Should the Edmonton Oilers consider hiring Stan Bowman?

edmontonjournal.com

Here it comes…

Piece of garbage writes like a 4000 word dissertation on bowman. He's never even written such a lengthy article on Mcdavid.

 

[Oilhawks]

It's not really a question of holding anything against him and more so that I don't think he did a whole lot to extend the window. It was going to be open for about the same amount of time regardless of the moves he made. I don't think he was a terrible GM but rather very mediocre.

For me retooling is more than filling in a couple of holes on a championship level team. That is more maintenace. Retooling would be more like replacing a Keith or someone in the core if their game fell off.

They had to shed a very large portion of good players after that first Cup. Massive cap crunch. There were no guarantees that they would contend after that Cup, and taking the eventual SCF losers to 7 in the first round masked the step back they had to take the following year. If anything, the third Cup was a “yawn, this was expected” sort of situation. They could have just as easily crashed out after that first Cup. There was no need to retool as Keith and the rest of the core were performing as expected. Which is why the changes were around the margins and in support roles

 

[Fourier]

They had to shed a very large portion of good players after that first Cup. Massive cap crunch. There were no guarantees that they would contend after that Cup, and taking the eventual SCF losers to 7 in the first round masked the step back they had to take the following year. If anything, the third Cup was a “yawn, this was expected” sort of situation. They could have just as easily crashed out after that first Cup. There was no need to retool as Keith and the rest of the core were performing as expected. Which is why the changes were around the margins and in support roles

I am fully aware of Chicago's cap issues. It was a huge thing and its something I followed very closely.

Your bolded statement above is exactly my point. The Hawks first cup was a very very deep team. But the core was also incredibly good. Good enough that you could degrade the depth a fair bit and still be right there. Bowman didn't really screw up anything big like say Chia did in Edmonton, and some of his moves did help. But he never really had to retool the team.

In the end we may just have a different idea of what "retool" means.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Piece of garbage writes like a 4000 word dissertation on bowman. He's never even written such a lengthy article on Mcdavid.

Im always down for more McDavid articles but I thought it was really interesting.

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

Really not interested in defending Bowman too much, but as probably the biggest Hawks fan here of that Kane / Toews / Keith etc era, I’ll take a stab at it. He acquired these players that had various impacts on the next two Cups and playoff runs between

Nick Leddy (traded bust Cam Barker)

V Stalberg (decent player, even if not much production in the next Cup run, for Versteeg out, who they could no longer afford)

Acquired the Hayes brothers (overrated but decent)

Drafted Saad with the Flames’ 2nd rounder

Got Frolik for a bust and some spare parts

Drafted Danault (unfortunately did not keep the player)

Traded a late pick for signings rights of Steve Montador

Couple of picks for Oduya

4th for Handzus

Couple of picks for Rundblad

Traded up to draft Nick Schmaltz

Not many of these are really home runs but some solid transactions here, especially for support players that helped them win Cups. Wheels started to fall off around 14/15 so they were a bit lucky to win that third Cup before stagnation.

Not a very good GM but not as bad as some think. Given the context, certainly not worth it

He also ran some really good drafts at the beginning. They also won a cup, and retooled, and won another cup. That's very hard, you cant fluke into it imo

I think JJ should pick whoever he feels is the best fit, it's not like Bowman would be in charge and making decisions

 

[McDoused]

I know it's the middle of summer but I would really like it if our insiders could confirm or deny the rumor that Hunter and Bowman are being hired.

 

[jukon]

I know it's the middle of summer but I would really like it if our insiders could confirm or deny the rumor that Hunter and Bowman are being hired.

I think it was last week that JJ says he expects to have his new GM within 7-10 days. We won't have to wait long for the news.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Piece of garbage writes like a 4000 word dissertation on bowman. He's never even written such a lengthy article on Mcdavid.

I can shorten if for Staples. No, the answer is NO.

 

[Slats432]

I think there is a strong possibility those who don't want Bowman in the organization might be disappointed.

 

[Johnny McBravo]

I think there is a strong possibility those who don't want Bowman in the organization might be disappointed.

Disappointment doesn't really do it justice, more like pure disgust. There are how many candidates to fill a hockey ops job, and we might choose the sexual assault cover up artist. There is literally no reason to hire the guy in any capacity, other than to keep up the Oilers theme of being a rehab org.

 

[Slats432]

Disappointment doesn't really do it justice, more like pure disgust. There are how many candidates to fill a hockey ops job, and we might choose the sexual assault cover up artist. There is literally no reason to hire the guy in any capacity, other than to keep up the Oilers theme of being a rehab org.

I agree with all of this. I was speaking to a media guy who believes it will come to pass. I told him it would take a bunch of the shine of Jeff Jackson's great moves if he did it.

 

[Zerotonine]

I agree with all of this. I was speaking to a media guy who believes it will come to pass. I told him it would take a bunch of the shine of Jeff Jackson's great moves if he did it.

There has to be some one pushing for bowman with in the NHL. Like most have said bowman doesn't fit what Jackson says he was looking for. And let's be honest if his last name wasn't bowman he wouldn't even me bought up again after his suspension

 

[Slats432]

There has to be some one pushing for bowman with in the NHL. Like most have said bowman doesn't fit what Jackson says he was looking for. And let's be honest if his last name wasn't bowman he wouldmt even me bright up again after his suspension

Yes, I agree. You assume that Scotty would have made a few calls. The NHL is a fraternity and if you are in the fraternity, you have to fall off the rails numerous times before you get ostracized. (Babcock)

 

[oilers4life5]

What’s wrong with second chances? Look what Mctavish did with a second chance and he was directly responsible.

 

[K1984]

What’s wrong with second chances? Look what Mctavish did with a second chance and he was directly responsible.

Nothing at all - for the right person at the right time.

Whether people like it or not, this decision is a risk/reward proposition. The risk being the negative press, the PR war, the perception of fans, perception of players, etc. The reward being the quality of executive we get in the exchange. Generously, Bowman is a mediocre General Manager.

The Oilers currently are in what is basically an unprecedented state of goodwill. Free agents are staying and coming here for discounts, fans are basically universally supportive of the current management and coaching group, fans are happy with results, the team is the focus of the city in a good way, outside fans and media are singing the organization and the city's praises, the team is a Stanley Cup favourite, etc, etc. You would basically have to fight to find something to say negatively about the team, and even then it wouldn't be a major issue.

I can't for one second understand the thought process behind risking the rare scenario of universal goodwill towards the team from every angle to hire the GM with extremely divisive baggage that also happens to be mediocre. You put a target on the franchise from sports and non-sports media, give fair whether fans a reason to jump back off the bandwagon, create more of the stupid "I'm done!" rants on twitter, and possibly even cause players to not want to play here anymore for...... Stan Bowman? It's so stupid and so illogical that I still can't believe for a second that someone as smart and well rounded as Jeff Jackson would consider it, but it doesn't seem to be going away so there must be something there.

 

[LevelingSolo]

Mark Hunter is fine as GM

I really don't care if Bowman is there as an "advisor", what do they even do in that position anyway?

 

[LevelingSolo]

Virtanen wasn't good enough to be worth the bad publicity by bringing him in on a PTO either. But they did it. I don't think the Oilers particularly care about bad publicity in regards to this particular area of concern.

He was cleared and innocent though

 

[Spawn]

He was cleared and innocent though

Point being is it was bad publicity. The team doesn’t care.

 

[LevelingSolo]

Point being is it was bad publicity. The team doesn’t care.

I agree but honestly do most people really?

I don't think the HF, Reddit and Twitter crowds represent what the average person is thinking

 

[McDoused]

Pretty sure this has been posted already but I finally read it.

Should the Edmonton Oilers consider hiring Stan Bowman? The inside report on what went wrong in Chicago

Should the Edmonton Oilers consider hiring Stan Bowman?

edmontonjournal.com

I was more emotional than I thought I would be after reading this.

 

[foshizzle]

What’s wrong with second chances? Look what Mctavish did with a second chance and he was directly responsible.

The difference was that McTavish’s was an accident. He served time. Boman knowingly hid the truth and allowed him to be hired by a school where he continued his abuse.

I agree but honestly do most people really?

I don't think the HF, Reddit and Twitter crowds represent what the average person is thinking

You’d be wrong. Reddit, HF, Twitter make a good sample size of the population

 

[Davo Ikinzom]

There has to be some one pushing for bowman with in the NHL. Like most have said bowman doesn't fit what Jackson says he was looking for. And let's be honest if his last name wasn't bowman he wouldn't even me bought up again after his suspension

Bowman feels like a Katz hire like Nicholson.