Hell of a press conference introducing Ken Holland as the Oilers new general manager and president of hockey operations yesterday. I feel like somebody might’ve mentioned back in March that Darryl Katz wanted Holland as POHO all along.
"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."
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) March 24, 2019
That’s weird. Rod Pedersen and I can now share the “Ken Holland to the Oilers” spoils. Although I get the feeling that Hot Rod isn’t much for sharing…
Are you serious dude?
— Rod Pedersen (@rodpedersen) May 5, 2019
Nearly passed over that tweet. I didn’t see the blue checkmark. Well, no matter anyhow. Friedman was talking about Holland long before any of us.
Anyways, we can move on from that and actually talk about the presser now.
I was a bit worried at the beginning of the event. Holland sounded a tad nervous and that’s fine, it was a momentous day in his life. Where he got me was when he started talking about hockey and his vision for the Oilers. He got me fired up when he was talking about how you have to grind. How he loved the challenges. Hearing him speak about scouting games instead of just watching them was something that resonated with me too.
I thought he was the star of the show, but that was until a very ill Darryl Katz was addressed in the Q&A. If you click play below the clip should start right as Mr. Katz starts his epic reply to a question about how he feels about the displeasure being shown by season ticket holders.
Look, I think most people came into this introduction thinking that it was going to be Bob Nicholson or Ken Holland saying something that might be considered a rallying cry to the fans. I would be willing to be ZERO percent thought it would’ve been Katz.
Anybody would’ve understood if he had declined to make himself available considering the shape his health is in. The passion he showed yesterday morning was awe inspiring. Honestly, I never took him to be that sort of guy given the previous interviews I’d seen him featured in, but man, I have the utmost respect for him now. I feel like this is an opportunity to rally around the owner of our team and really throw our support behind the club.
If Mr. Katz can do this for us, surely there’s something we can do for him.
#DoItForDarryl
The Big Three
A lot of names are popping up for the Oilers coaching gig like Jay Woodcroft, Trent Yawney, and Glen Gulutzan from within the team. Ken Holland said he wants to bring change and hiring someone who is already here doesn’t make sense to me. I have it on pretty good authority that the assistant coaches have already been told that it’s up to the new coach as to who will be staying with the team and they have permission to seek employment elsewhere.
It’s my belief that there are three main candidates that will be heavily considered for the vacant head coaching position in Edmonton:
- Dave Tippett
- Todd Nelson
- Lane Lambert
I’m not a huge fan of Dave Tippett and I’m not sure there’s an absolute need to hire a veteran coach just because Calgary, San Jose, and Vegas have veteran coaches. Let’s keep in mind, those are veteran teams as well.
I don’t think it’s got that much to do with his defensive style as it does that he’s been out of the game for some time and when he left, his team’s weren’t exactly winning divisions. That said, he did have some great teams in Dallas and Arizona and he had some highly skilled players playing for him in both cities.
I think Buffalo has eyes on him though… So we’ll see if he can turn this into a bidding war or not.
As for Lane Lambert, Kurt Leavins has a slice of info up at the Cult of Hockey on him.
But I would suggest to you that the New York Islanders’ Lane Lambert is a dark horse candidate. A long-time coaching apprentice of Barry Trotz in Washington and then Long Island, Lambert also played for Holland in Detroit. That Red Wings experience also happened to include time with AHL Adirondack…
I’m slow… I think I’ve been saying he’s an assistant in Washington this whole time on Twitter… Ah well.
Point being, if I recall correctly, this is a coach that was a serious candidate for the Colorado Avalanche before they settled on Jared Bednar and has been in the running for multiple coaching jobs since. I don’t know much about him or the role he’s played on Barry Trotz’s bench over the years mind you. I will say that if there’s a coach you want mentoring you at the NHL level today; it’s probably Trotz and if he’s anything like his teacher, he’s going to be a helluva bench boss some day.
My support is behind Todd Nelson. When he’s running the bench, his players produce and his teams win. I mean, he found a way to make Anton Lander a productive NHLer! I look back at how he reinvigorated Nail Yakupov and I can’t help but think that he’s just what the doctor ordered for Jesse Puljujarvi.
This is a guy who gets it. He knows how to man-manage, he knows how to communicate with the young players and the vets. He has a history with Ken Holland being that when the Red Wings AHL affiliate won the Calder Cup, Nelson was the head coach of that team.
He’s been interviewed countless times since leaving the Oilers organization. Other NHL teams want this guy guiding their players and I think it’s time to bring him home to finish what he started back in 2014.
2019 Draft Notes
As I have it today, the Oilers should be selecting USNTDP forward Matthew Boldy. He’s a 6’2″ 190lb Boston College commit that can play every forward position effectively and that’s something that I think holds a lot of value. If you have a player like that on your team, it’s basically like holding the trump card. When injuries or slumps hit, he can fill in where needed.
Other things I really like about him are:
- His vision is elite. He can make high-end passes in the most compromising of positions and hit his teammate on the tape near every time.
- He’s a very underrated goal scorer. Cole Caufield racked up the goals this year for “The Program” but not many people know that Boldy was the 2nd highest goal scorer on that team.
- He stirs the drink. You’re probably thinking that he’s the recipient of playing on one of the most talent-laden teams in junior hockey history, but I’m here to tell you that his linemates were the ones that benefitted the most. As I watched him play on a line at the u18 tournament in Sweden with Alex Turcotte and Bobby Brink or Trevor Zegras, I noticed he drove that line on every shift and the play went through him.
- He knows where to go on the ice before the puck gets there. Now usually when we say something like this we mean that on the offensive side of the game, but I’m talking about both sides of the puck.
- He’s got NHL size already. He’ll only need one season at Boston College before he’s ready to join the Oilers in my opinion.
- He wins board battles smartly. Even though he’s got the size to do some damage, he’s such a cerebral player along the boards and wins those battles often.
If there’s something that he’ll have to work on, it’s his speed and quickness. His edgework is fantastic but he could use some more power and nimbleness in those legs.
I’d take Boldy over almost every player that is rated in the top-ten save for Hughes and Kakko and Byram. I think he’s a more rounded forward than Dach, Cozens, and Turcotte. He’s way more responsible and lower risk than Zegras and Krebs. Better offensively than Podkolzin I think but the Russian is quite proficient on the defensive side, so it might be a toss-up there.
If you want Leon Draisaitl on his own line AND scoring 50 goals annually, having Boldy on the German’s left/right wing would go a long way to making that happen.
My 2019 top-fifteen looks like this:
- Kaapo Kakko – RW – TPS (SM-Liiga)
- Jack Hughes – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Bowen Byram – LD – Vancouver (WHL)
- Matthew Boldy – LW/C/RW – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Dylan Cozens – C – Lethbridge (WHL)
- Alex Turcotte – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Peyton Krebs – C – Kootenay (WHL)
- Cole Caufield – RW – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Kirby Dach – C – Saskatoon (WHL
- Vasili Podkolzin – C – SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)
- Philip Broberg – LD – AIK (SHL)
- Spencer Knight – G – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Alex Newhook – C – Victoria (BCHL)
- Trevor Zegras – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Raphael Lavoie – RW – Halifax (QMJHL)
What’s going to make it interesting is if there’s a team that really wants Cole Caufield or Philip Broberg and are willing to move into the top-8 to pick them. Or if there’s a team drafting ahead of Edmonton that has eyes on those two.
If you remember last year, the Oilers had their choice of Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, or Oliver Wahlstrom. This is going to happen again.
A Milan Lucic Trade Proposal
I don’t know if Ken Holland will be able to move Looch or not but he did find a way to trade Pavel Datsyuk’s contract back in 2016, right?
Back in June, 2016, Ken Holland sent Pavel Datsyuk and the #16 OV pick to ARI for Joe Vitale, #20 ov (Chowolski), and #53 ov (Hronek).
Might he revisit ARI with a similar offer this year? #Oilers have the 8th overall and Arizona has the 14th…
Lucic+8th ov for 14th ov?
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) May 8, 2019
Now, It doesn’t have to be Arizona obviously but I do reckon that Holland is all-in on this draft and if he can help it, he’s not interested leaving the draft without a pick in the first round. So perhaps a team that is looking to move up that has multiple 1st rounders would have some interest in a trade?
Funny, all the rumors of a Lucic/Eriksson swap going on and the draft being in Vancouver… What better time to strike a deal?!
