Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland’s time with the team is up.
In a statement Thursday morning, Edmonton Oilers CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said “the Edmonton Oilers and Ken Holland have mutually agreed that his contract will not be extended beyond the end of its current term.”
Holland has been in the job since May 2019.
“Over the past five seasons as general manager, Ken has not only built the Edmonton Oilers into one of the NHL’s best teams, but he has also established a deeply rooted foundation of success and a culture of winning that will continue well into the future,” Jackson said.
“Thanks in large part to Ken’s outstanding work, Edmonton has become a destination city for players around the National Hockey League. We wish Ken, Cindi and his entire family the very best and thank him for his leadership and contributions to the Oilers organization and the City of Edmonton.”
During a media availability later Thursday, Jackson said he met with Holland on Wednesday “to formalize a discussion that had been ongoing during the season – not a surprise to Ken or to me that we’ve mutually decided that this was the best thing.
“We’re going to go in a different direction.”
Jackson said Holland did a fantastic job with the Oilers, touting moves such as signing Zach Hyman and Mattias Ekholm.
The announcement comes just days after the Edmonton Oilers’ season came to a heartbreaking end, losing out in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers on Monday.
Before joining Edmonton, the 68-year-old from Vernon, B.C., spent 22 seasons as GM of the Detroit Red Wings.
Detroit won Stanley Cups in 1998, 2002 and 2008 under Holland.
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A replacement has not yet been named.
“I’ve been formulating plans in my head and mapping things out,” Jackson said. “This was not a surprise. We knew that we were going to get handcuffed if we went far in the playoffs because you can’t be having discussions about other general managers and asking for permission from other teams while we’re playing, because in our business … everything makes its way into the public realm.
“I guess I would be the acting GM. I’m going to be the one that’s overseeing everything in conjunction with our staff. I don’t have any intention of being the general manager. I have a number of candidates that I have started to reach out to. It’s a difficult time for everybody. We’re at the draft. People that I want to talk to are integral part of other organizations.”
Jackson said he doesn’t have a timeline for when a new GM will be in place.
“I want to get the right person. I don’t have a timeframe for it. Obviously, it’s a priority, a big priority, and I don’t want it to linger, and I don’t know how long it’ll take.”
Sports reporter Daniel Nugent-Bowman, who covers the Oilers for The Athletic, said the move wasn’t a surprise at all.
“But it is the last link of the changing of the guard,” he explained.
“This move, I think, had been preordained since they lost in the playoffs last year and Ken Holland didn’t get a contract extension.”
Nugent-Bowman said Jackson was hired above Holland last August.
“Holland, over the last 13, 14 months, has slowly but surely kind of had his profile kind of reduced,” he said.
“Jeff Jackson is clearly the guy in charge now and he will be for the next little while.”
Looking ahead to unrestricted free agency, NHL Draft
Word of Holland’s departure comes at a busy time for the team, amid unrestricted free agency and the NHL Draft.
Jackson said director of amateur scouting Rick Pracey will run the draft and in terms of free agency, the team has guys they have targeted.
“When July 1 hits we’re going to get on that,” Jackson said.
“We’ve got a lot to do and we’re sort of behind the eight ball but I’m confident that we’re going to be able to accomplish what we need to in the short term and then going forward with some discussions on contract extensions and things like that.”
Jackson said the Oilers will look at anything they can to improve the team, but added “we’re not going to be super aggressive and start making deals all over the place.”
“We have a very good group. We made it where we made it. I’ve never seen a team that’s gelled so well and then through the playoffs, matured as a team sort of before our eyes,” he said.
“We would like to bring back the team. We might like to tinker with it a little bit, make a change here or there. Being realistic, I don’t know if we’ll get everybody back or not. We have to try. We’ve got to work around cap issues and different things like that.”
One of the most critical contract negotiations coming up is that of star centre Leon Draisaitl. The German has one year left on his current contract and is eligible to sign an extension as of July 1.
“With respect to Leon, we haven’t started negotiations with him,” Jackson said, adding he will likely see Draisaitl’s agent this week and they’ll have a discussion.
“It’s critically important that the general manager is in place before we get into the meat of that discussion because I’m sure for Leon and his representatives, they’re going to want to know what the vision is, who the GM is, all of those sorts of things. It’s a big move.”
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Draisaitl said he hasn’t thought extensively about his future.
“I’m obviously going to sit down with my agent here, talk to the Oilers, see what their plan is, see what my plan is and go from there,” he said.
“I love being an Oiler more than anything.”
Jackson was also asked about goaltender Jack Campbell, and whether the team was looking at buying him out.
“We’re looking at every option we can on various things, including Jack. But at this point we’re not planning that, we’re considering it.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
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