Early this morning, I was contacted by one of my sources and what I was told wasn’t shocking. It was nothing I hadn’t already been aware of thanks to Nick Kypreos and other NHL insiders. But what did stand out for me was the urgency to get the message out.
I was told, “The fans have to know what’s going on. They’ve been in the dark too long and nobody is saying a f*cking thing.” and “Just copy and paste everything I say.”
It wasn’t the type of language I was used to in dialogues that I’d had in the past with this source.
My feeling is that changes really are coming and they’re going to be sweeping. It sounds like Darryl Katz has been embarrassed by those running his team and their actions and that he’s going to be taking some real action.
I’ve found that the one thing people with money hate most is being embarrassed or having their brand humiliated and regarded as one of the worst in its industry. I reckon we’re at that point with Katz.
Now, some might feel that Katz is out there sitting on a bed of money not giving two shits about his team but I’d be willing to bet that he knows more than a lot of fans choose to believe. As if he doesn’t hear what the fanbase is saying from his family and friends.
We’ve heard Elliotte Friedman talk about a “crisis of confidence” and how that is affecting Katz’s bottom line and if you’re an owner of a hockey team, you can handle losing some money each year. It happens. But can you handle losing money AND being lumped into the same sentence as Eugene Melnyk every week?
Let’s get into this thread on Twitter a bit.
DARRYL KATZ
“Katz heard Bob’s comments. He’s not impressed. Sounds like he himself will find a POHO and then that POHO will hire a GM.”
“Katz isn’t impressed. Gave Nick some shit. Sounds like Katz will hire the POHO and remove the hockey side from under Nicholson.”
“Katz isnt a public eye kind of Owner. He doesn’t want to be and never has been obviously.”
Nicholson really screwed the pooch with those Rieder comments but not so much in that he’s embarrassed the player or himself but more in that he’s made the team (aka brand) look terrible all the while preaching character and culture.
This isn’t the first time this year that Katz has laid into Nicholson. I’m under the impression he let Nicholson know what for when McLellan was fired and Chiarelli was let go.
The patience has worn thin and the people he’s trusted to manage his investment have failed. You would have to wonder if he’ll go back to the Hockey Canada well for more help though because it hasn’t really worked out.
Katz has been thrust into the public eye now. He doesn’t like it one bit it sounds. Hence why you never see the guy at those season ticket events.
THE NEW GM
“Well Katz quietly wants Holland for POHO potentially and McCrimmon as GM if possible. If not Holland, he will find someone else. I know the fans don’t want Holland but he wouldn’t be the GM. McCrimmon would be the GM and get FULL autonomy.”
This goes right in line with what Nick Kypreos said on Headlines this weekend and what Elliotte Friedman was talking about recently on the 31 Thoughts podcast. Although he pontificated on Holland as GM and Glen Gulutzan as the head coach I believe.
A lot of fans really don’t want Ken Holland as the team’s President of Hockey Operations and I get that his team hasn’t been great in recent years but this is a man who has been at the head of one of the greatest hockey dynasties ever. You wouldn’t want that sort of knowledge being part of the brain trust in Edmonton? He’s not going to be GM. So he won’t be making the deals and signings.
As for Kelly McCrimmon, the Oilers want to focus on skill and speed, right?
Regardless of how GM situation plays out.
Oilers need to:#1. Prioritize adding skill and speed to forward units
#2. Transition D bringing in more offensive-minded puck movers.
#3. Target really good back-up (1.5-2.5M range)
#4. “Over-percolate” top prospects in Bakersfield— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) March 24, 2019
What better template to copy than that of the Vegas Golden Knights? So go out and get the man that is partly responsible for said template. IF you can convince him NOT to go to Seattle…
ON THE TEAM
“I expect a full sweep coming.” This is talking about the pro scouting I believe.
“The team has not improved. Chia never listened but at the same time the team needs to win. It really sucks ass but things need to turn around here. Pete isolated himself hardcore for half last season and all of this season. The word needs to get out.”
“The focus was on big heavy hockey for a long time. But now it’s back to speed and skill. A lot of people in the org disagreed with Pete over most of his trades. I mean, where do I begin. That’s why he isolated himself as fast as he did.”
“The Ottawa loss did it for me. Boys didn’t even compete that much. They’ve given up. It pisses me off. Keith is doing his best and honestly. He’s a great guy. He uses EVERYONE. Everyone. He uses all of his sources. I really like Keith. I couldn’t stand Peter.”
“The Oilers won’t make the playoffs. Thats the thing. They don’t believe in Koski. You can see it on the ice. He lets in a bad goal every game. The new contract for him is awful”
It’s hard not to believe that the pro scouts are going to be cleaned out. When Jason Gregor asked Nicholson about the openness of changes to the pro scouting department, I believe the reply was, “definitely’.
So does that mean the three guys they have employed as pro scouts are gone? It could. It could also mean that the head scout is removed too. My thought is that if Chiarelli really went into isolation with Duane Sutter and Ken Hitchcock (talk about some pro-heavy hockey men) in the final months of his tenure, one of those gentlemen are gone, why wouldn’t the other two be as well? And there’s a pretty good feeling that Hitch won’t be back behind the bench next year, so that leaves Sutter.
I’m not as worried about Koskinen as some. Sure his glove hand works but at least he saves the first shot of the game/period. Maybe the Oilers look at a new goalie coach? Because didn’t Talbot get beat quite a bit on the glove-hand too? Or at least over his shoulders?
MORE ON NICHOLSON
“Katz is removing the Hiring from Nicholson. He’s going to hire a POHO himself who will then hire a GM. Oilers culture is fast, aggressive hockey. Attack attack attack. Exciting hockey. Nicholson couldn’t even answer the culture question with Gregor.”
“The Oilers at one point were the fastest team in the NHL. Now, they’re among the slowest. It’s going to change. Otherwise the fans will drop like flies.”
“Nicholson is being removed to focus on expanding the brand on the business side with Lowe. Katz will hire a POHO to fix this shit.”
“Katz doesn’t want to feel like a Harrold Ballard so to speak. He doesn’t want that label. And if the fans can’t realize that, then I don’t know. Leafs fans hated that shit back in the day.”
When Gregor asked Nicholson about hiring a POHO and the reply was that the GM would be the priority, I had to question this. Why would a team do that? Unless of course, the POHO candidate was already in the organization… Would Wayne Gretzky step in there? He held that position with Team Canada at the Olympics, no? Would Kevin Lowe take the job on the short term as he’s been in that chair under Nicholson before? Ken Hitchcock? Craig MacTavish?
POSSIBLE SUMMER MOVES
“I do personally believe that MacT will stay on. He runs Bako and they’re killing it.”
“Hall is open to returning. At a DISCOUNT price. That’s all I’ll say on that. I can’t say more.”
“Lucic is in a handshake agreement to move in the offseason. Then we would bring Hall back. I can’t say much more.”
“It would be Lucic and a piece on D. About 10M leaving off the cap after Lucic is paid his bonus”
I’ve heard that MacTavish will stay on and that he’ll be dismissed. So who knows with that one. Could Keith Gretzky do that job just as well? Probably but I won’t pretend to know what all goes into performing the duties the position entails.
I’ve just felt this year that maybe it’s time for folks like MacTavish and/or Howson to move on and for the Oilers to bring in fresh(er) blood.
Bob Stauffer’s been touting Hall back to Edmonton for a few months now. Combine that with the rumored return of Jordan Eberle and the Oilers trading for Sam Gagner… It’s almost insane to think that Taylor Hall would come back after all the BS he went through but I’ll say this, I wasn’t a huge fan when he was in Edmonton but if he came back at a discount, I’d be willing to forget about his first stint with the team.
Tons of people don’t believe the Oilers can move Lucic. I’m not one of those. I do believe there are GMs who exist that value his skillset and would be willing to make a move for him. Now, if it’s him and a defender whose contracts add up to around $10M that are moved, who’s the dman going with him?
Lucic – $6M
Klefbom – $4.1M
Larsson – $4.1M
Russell – $4M
Nurse – $3.2M
I imagine Andrej Sekera is an option as well but I think the team really values his locker room presence and puck moving and they’d prefer to move Russell. I can’t wait until the trade is announced… I am very curious as to what team would take on two of those five players.
It’s really hard to speculate on any moves without the team having a general manager in place though. I believe that some headway was made on summer moves but it’ll be up to the new guy to agree to or augment them to his liking.
One name I want to throw out there that isn’t getting that much traction is LA’s Mike Futa. I’m reading a book right now called, “The Art of Scouting” by Shane Malloy and inside there are some stories from scouts about the hijinks involved amongst the scouting fraternity. I’ll share one here,
“There are so many good people in the industry and I’ve become good friends with Keith Gretzky of the Phoenix Coyotes, and we have ongoing pranks with those guys. I remember two years ago at the NHL draft our schedules crossed, so we knew which players they were metting with and we knew they wanted defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, like hugely. We also knew that we wanted to take a forward, but nobody else knew that; they assumed but they didn’t know for sure.
I remember we had the name bars written up for the prospects at the draft. We saw Evander Kane went to Atlanta and I leaned back and took a deep breath. Then I just look to my right and Gretz (Keith Gretzky) looked at me and his eyes were burning through me and he gave me a look that said, “Who are you taking?” and I mouthed back to him, “Ekman-Larsson.” He just about fell off his chair and his whole face turned white and he began go sweat. We started to dig into the bag of name bars we had. We were taking Brayden Schenn all the way-if he was there, he was our guy. But it looked like the Coyotes staff were freaking out. Gretz told me later that they said, “I thought you were friends,” and “What the f*ck?” At that time, I was shuffling through the bag for the Ekman-Larsson name bar so I could pull that out to even add a little more pain.
If you click that link above and buy the book, you’ll be helping me a bit. It’s an affiliate link, so I’ll get a small commission for it.
So if Mike Futa gets the job a job in Edmonton… Don’t be surprised if Keith Gretzky has a lot to do with it.
Lastly, it’s really interesting who comes in with the kind words when the rumors align with their own thoughts about the direction of the club. “I don’t normally support these kinds of rumors but…”
Give me a break…
What do you think about the quotes above? Let me know in the comments below!
