Why is there talk of Ken Holland leaving the Oilers after this season?

[lbj23]

Sure he has not been the most perfect GM (extending Nurse for too much money, Campbell signing). But he has made the Hyman signing and Ekholm trade that has put the Oilers in position to win the Stanley Cup. Is it because Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson wants his own guy or has Ken Holland decided he want out of being a GM and retiring?

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[Dr Salt]

I'm not entirely sure but iirc this is the last year of his contract

 

[JaegerDice]

It just seems like Holland lost the political game.

The owner has a new favorite, Holland's contract is up and the writing is on the wall.

I don't think he's done either a good or a disastrous job. If he had done a terrible job, then changing coaches wouldn't have made a difference. Clearly the talent was there.

That said, he HAS had the best player on Earth and top 5 player on Earth, and this is the first time they have a shot at the cup... as underdogs.

I think the Campbell and the Nurse contracts are reason enough to fire him, honestly.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

It will be the downfall of the Oilers if they let him go.

That man needs to never pay for a drink at a bar in Edmonton ever again.

 

[Rowlet]

The Oilers have been knocking on the door for his entire tenure and somehow he's been hesitant to make big swings on rentals while also not stocking the cupboard. The only first he's traded was for Ekholm, a player with term, which was a good trade but late picks don't matter when the team has the best player in the world, and another top 5.

His history as a drafter is also not stellar. Zadina over Hughes when Hughes played in Michigan being a big example.

Holland is going to be the next Burke, right place at the right time. All he did was accept Pronger with open arms and have Rob Neidermayer under contract when he got there.

 

[strattonius]

They are winning because McDavid amd Draisaitl is the best 1-2 combo to bless an organization since Crosby/Malkin.

If the Oilers had a better general manager they would likely have another cup by now. If the Oilers win the cup I won't concede this opinion - I think Ken Holland is a C level manager.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

It's the end of his contract, he's 68 years old, his moves have been so-so, and up until this year, he hasn't accomplished much in his tenure in Edmonton. The last couple months might have changed things, but with Jeff Jackson now running things, this is his opportunity to get His Guy in there and see if they can go for more than one Cup.

 

[CupofOil]

The Oilers have a new President of Hockey Operations in place in Jeff Jackson so he likely wants to bring in a GM with a more modern approach and probably more importantly a GM that excels at cap management with a mind for creativity because the Oilers are going to have a cap crunch, again, to navigate with the new McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard and potentially Skinner if he keeps improving contracts kicking in the next 2 years.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

If he wasn’t a godawful GM it would be unfair for the rest of the league.

 

[Zenos]

The Oilers have been knocking on the door for his entire tenure and somehow he's been hesitant to make big swings on rentals while also not stocking the cupboard. The only first he's traded was for Ekholm, a player with term, which was a good trade but late picks don't matter when the team has the best player in the world, and another top 5.

Adam Henrique.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

He's a dog meat GM

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Let's not act the sole reason Edmonton are in final are because of Mcdavid and Draisailt.

Put a green plant at his position and you would get the same result.

 

[ManofSteel55]

It will be the downfall of the Oilers if they let him go.

That man needs to never pay for a drink at a bar in Edmonton ever again.

Is Darnell Nurse footing the bill?

There is talk about him leaving because he hasn't received a contract extension, which leads most to think he is moving on, by either his choice, or the organizations.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Some guys are builders and just want to grow teams and then get on to their next team to do that with, Waddell is a good example of that. If EDM wins the Cup, what's there really to do there that's left?

 

[Voight]

Cause Sherry Bassin is looking for work

 

[Lolonegoal]

As far as I have heard, he's just the figure head GM at the moment and the plan was to keep it this way til the end of the year, rather than firing him. Basically, paying respect to what he's contributed and his accomplished career. But, many suggested he hasn't really been the one in control of the teams moves for awhile now, so he might not even be responsible for Ekholm.

I'm not entirely sure why he was given a second chance after Detroit, he was shown to have no idea to work in a cap compliant era. He was good at attracting talent with the proposition of winning the cup and big money. Honestly, Edmonton's problems didn't seem that hard to solve and for a good chunk of McDavid's prime it seemed like no effort was even being made. He bargain binned his way to finding some huge discounts on players simply because they were so dispised, no other teams wanted them. He's lucky he didn't create a toxic locker room.

While he may have contributed some if Edmonton wins the cup, let's be real and recognize who are responsible for winning it.

 

[oXo Cube]

He's old, has an expiring contract, and I'll diplomatically call his performance record controversial.

There's also the angle of his boss being a recent hire who may or may not want his own guy in that spot.

 

[Frank Drebin]

It will be the downfall of the Oilers if they let him go.

That man needs to never pay for a drink at a bar in Edmonton ever again.

hes 68 years old

 

[bucks_oil]

I'm fine moving on from Holland, but people slagging on him for his overall record would be wise to realize that he inherited a team that was UP AGAINST THE CAP and still had these guys playing everyday minutes (sorted by ice time) for the team:

At forward: McD, Drai, Nuge, Chaisson, Kassian, Caggiula, Gagner, Lucic, Yamamoto, Reider, Khaira, Cave, Rattie, Spooner

On defence (editing out Klefbom, who retired with injury that summer): Nurse, Larsson, Russell, C. Jones, Benning, Gravel,

In goal: Koskinen, Stolarz

Imagine a roster with all of those guys in bold, who were (even then) essentially replacement level players AND the team was still at the cap.

He had A LOT of turnover to make a decent team, it's no wonder he made a few mistakes along the way, not every transaction is perfect. I think he was generally good, not great.

 

[tucker3434]

I applaud him for passing on EK and going for Ekholm. It seemed like they finally figured out the difference between winning the deadline and winning the cup.

 

[Jared Dunn]

He has succeeded in spite of himself largely on the back of the best duo in the league. Full credit for the Ekholm trade, Hyman signing, and I believe he handled all 3 extensions of RNH, Drai and McDavid which are all objectively good deals.

His drafting has been abysmal and he's signed some of the worst contracts known to man. If he had to pay McDavid and Draisaitl what they're actually worth they would have had to deal off basically any other good pieces.

Even if they win the cup this year, his tenure has been a failure because there's absolutely no way this should be McDavid/Draisaitl's first ever cup appearance

 

[Mike C]

I'm not entirely sure but iirc this is the last year of his contract

Maybe McDavid doesn't like him? Lesser players have gotten better managers/coaches "relieved of their duties" is how today's lingo goes right?

 

[The Nuge]

Let's not act the sole reason Edmonton are in final are because of Mcdavid and Draisailt.

Put a green plant at his position and you would get the same result.

If that was remotely true then it would have happened years ago. The Oilers are the in the finals because we have the 4 leading scorers (McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard, Nuge), to go along with the top goal scorer (Hyman), one of the best couple shutdown dmen in the league (Ekholm), an elite PP and PK, depth at all positions, etc.

 

[Oddbob]

He's a dog meat GM

I don't know, they didn't really have any capabilities for hockey to be played in the Commonwealth.

 

[JKG33]

They are winning because McDavid amd Draisaitl is the best 1-2 combo to bless an organization since Crosby/Malkin.

If the Oilers had a better general manager they would likely have another cup by now. If the Oilers win the cup I won't concede this opinion - I think Ken Holland is a C level manager.

This. I don't hate Holland, but even an above average GM would have a few cups with that duo. The Nurse contract, the goaltending, overpaying some very shitty forwards...