The gms

Stevie Y quote,." I'm going back to Detroit".

No details yet.

 

Official line, going back to Detroit to be with his family.

 

Oilers finally fire GM Chiarelli: report...

It is done.

It would appear that a loss to the last place Detroit Red Wings was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. And man, that camel was a stubborn such and such.

The Oilers reportedly fired general manager Peter Chiarelli late Tuesday after another miserable outing in a 3-2 loss on Tuesday, a move that the club is expected to formally announce on Wednesday.

The move, of course, was a long-time coming.

Chiarelli had failed to move the team forward, and in the eyes of many Oilers fans, only moved the team in the opposite direction.

The Oilers went from the Western Conference Final to one of the most disappointing teams in 2017-18. Perhaps it was just a fluke. Surely, a team sporting the best player in hockey couldn’t be held down for too long.

Tuesday’s loss, Edmonton’s third straight and perhaps most embarrassing of the season, was proof even McJesus can’t save this bunch alone.

The Oilers own a 23-24-3 record, shockingly just three points out of a playoff spot and yet still likely insurmountable.

In his wake, a litany disastrous moves that may take a while to make right after Chiarelli’s three-and-a-half years in northern Alberta.

We’re reminded of Milan Lucic’s contract, that Griffin Reinhart deal and others that saw good players — Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle — leave with less than adequate players coming to replace them.

More recently, the trade of Drake Caggulia for Brandon Manning, and the very recent three-year, $13.5 million deal for Mikko Koskinen, one based on less than 40 NHL games, a career .905 save percentage, and equipped with a limited no-trade clause just so Chiarelli’s legacy will live on in Edmonton all the longer.

Yeah, there’s a mess on a few aisles that need a major cleanup.

But by who? What the future holds is anyone’s guess at the moment.

In the interim, Sportsnet’s John Shannon said a member of the Gretzky family will take the reins in some fashion.

Keith Gretzky will assume many of Chiarelli’s duties in the next few weeks, with Vice Chairman Bob Nicholson being more involved until they find a new GM.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Ken Hitchcock, who just took over as head coach earlier this season after the team fired Todd McLellan, take over the post at some point. He appears to want to stay in Edmonton.

It also wouldn’t be surprising to see some recycling, either. That’s kind of par for the course in Edmonton, re-using old parts hoping they work like new again. Canning a GM mid-season isn’t common.

That would be a shame, however.

Edmonton deserves a clean slate, from top to bottom. This isn’t going to be the first “rebuild.” It’s not the second or third either.

Connor McDavid deserves a better fate.

Oilers fans deserve a better team. God knows they’ve been starving for one for a long while. (NBC's, PHT)

 

Ken Holland to the Oilers... 5yrs/25M

 

Throwing money at the problem, nobody wants to play in Edmonton. If they don't have good drafts and keep making poor deals, they're doomed.

 

That's where Holland comes in... their putting their money on Ken making better draft decisions and finding the right chemistry on the ice.

The Oilers have a core that's pretty good and a star or two to build around, hence the Ken Holland deal and they wernt going to get a better GM for a cheaper amount either. You get what you pay for in the NHL.

 

Good luck to the oilers, maybe they'll get into the playoffs again sometime soon.
The sad part is they have two very good forwards and then RNH.
They need to draft some good D, you need a lot of patience to let them develop. It could be years before they develop a solid foundation back there.

The question is, will McDavid have the patience to see through it. Holland isn't going to wave a magic wand and everything will be rosy right away.

The drop off after RNH is brutal and Lucic isn't getting any younger

They just might have to trade McDavid and start from scratch, unless he's will to hang on another 4 or 5 years.

 

If the Oilers have any D talent in the system, Holland will make sure they get some experience and usually gets them up asap. Hopefully that's the case with Edmonton. Their D is a siv right now, but with Holland having complete autonomy, he might even pull the trigger on new coach's and generals to run the show. I agree, Rome wasn't built in a year, but try telling that to the VGK.

Its the system that works and wins, not just a few stars.

That is a good question, winning soon is the key. Hopefully, Connor isn't the whiny little bitch he's been portraited as lately, but someone who's interested in mentoring and the good of the team concept of Oilers hockey. If he isn't happy, trade him, just do the deal like its supposed to be done and get star material for a star. I believe Ken can handle that.

Again, those two are excellent examples of the wrong judgement calls, especially Lucic… overrated, over-paid and under-performing, he needs dealt with.

Anyway, I tend to agree with your statements, but I do believe you are taking the 'glass half empty' approach, when I truly believe, there is still enough raw talent within the Oilers system to take the 'glass half full approach. Bottom-line is... only some time will tell.

 

If Holland can bring in a complete overhaul of their developmental system, I could see him making a difference.
This would take giving him total reign on his decisions. He would need to be able to fire a lot of scouts and coaches in the system and bring in his guys This could have an effect on the Wings if some decide to join him in Edmonton.

The biggest problem with the Oilers is that they haven't developed any 2nd to 7th round picks, they have trouble developing first rounders like Jessie and Nail Yakapov.

They need a culture change and this could mean cleaning house of some alumni staff.

 

Chiarelli in talks with nucks about a front office job.

 

Francis to be named Seattle general manager: report
Expansion team adds former Hurricanes executive, Hall of Fame center...

Ron Francis will be the general manager of the Seattle NHL expansion team, it was reported Tuesday.

Francis was GM of the Carolina Hurricanes from 2014-18 and worked in their front office for 12 seasons. The Hurricanes did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his four seasons as GM. They ended a nine-season playoff drought by reaching the Eastern Conference Final last season, their first under his replacement, Don Waddell.

Seattle will begin play in the 2021-22 NHL season.

Seattle president and CEO Tod Leiweke said at the 2019 NHL Draft last month that it wanted to hire its first GM sooner rather than later.

"I think we're going to get top, top talent in the GM spot," Leiweke said. "I think we have a chance to build out a world-class staff around that GM.

"We're prepared to make that investment if we land on the right candidate who says the right things, so we're prepared to do that. And part of what (co-owner) Jerry [Bruckheimer] and I have been doing is having dinners and lunches and coffees with folks, getting their take. And it's really a lot of fun."

The Seattle Times reported Seattle had interest in Ken Holland (Edmonton Oilers), Kelly McCrimmon (Vegas Golden Knights) and Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings), who this offseason each agreed to be GM elsewhere.

Francis also was approached by the Ottawa Senators regarding their position of president of hockey operations, Sportsnet reported.
(in part from; NHL.com)

 

Make some questionable/bad trades and it'll get you canned. Paul Fenton is out as GM for the Wild after only 14 months.

I still think that team has got MAJOR problems looming with the ridiculous contracts they doled out to Parise and Suter (not Fenton's fault). Their AHL affiliate showed some signs of a pulse last year, but generally speaking the Wild are considered to have one of the most lackluster propects' pipeline in the league. I'd rather be a Sabres fan! Take that, "State of Hockey".

 

Dan, 100000% correct. Unfortunately some GMs in sports who make a ton of bad moves keep their jobs as GM. How is baffling to me. The Phillies GM Matt Klentak is at the top of my hit list. But overall, GMs have a bad draft, or give out too much money and they are towing a fine line towards being on the unemployment line !

Sabres are in a much better place than the Wild are.

 

Wild are in a brutal spot. Old upside down contracts will continue to kill them. Maybe Suter and Parise can become allergic to their equipment like another way-too-long-term deal player that played in that division.

 

Apparently, Jim Benning is getting extended. Funny thing is, he's being blasted for it. Maybe the Canucks should have taken a page from the Wild play book.

Reportedly, the extension consists of 3 years... that's plenty of time to write some more BAD contracts.

 

Wild names Bill Guerin new general manager

Bill Guerin is finally getting a chance to run an NHL team and he has a big challenge ahead of him.

The Minnesota Wild has announced the hiring of the 48-year-old Guerin as their new general manager. He will replace Paul Fenton, who was fired in July after only one season.

“Bill has been a winner throughout his hockey career and I am extremely pleased to be able to add his experience to our organization and The State of Hockey,” said Wild owner Craig Leipold.

Guerin has worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins organization since 2011 starting as a development coach before moving his way up to assistant GM under Jim Rutherford. He spent 18 seasons in the NHL and won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins and the New Jersey Devils.

Leipold and team president Matt Majka headed the search for Fenton’s replacement and were helped out by executive advisor and Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Modano, who played with Guerin for three seasons with the Dallas Stars as well as the United States national team. Guerin had been a candidate for several GM jobs over the last few years, and even interviewed with the Wild last summer before they hired Fenton.

The Wild failed to qualify for the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, this first time they’ve missed since 2012. With a roster loaded with older veterans eating up cap space and sprinkled in with some young talent, there will be plenty of work for Guerin to do to try and figure out a way to make the franchise a consistent winner again. There is no teardown coming as part of a full rebuild and it’s going to be a long wait before some of the contracts on their books expire. Guerin will have to get creative in order to infuse the roster with new blood and hope some of the organization’s youngsters take big steps forward.

Despite the turbulent off-season, the confident from up top in the organization is high.

“I believe we are a playoff team,” Leipold said after Fenton’s firing. “We have to get everybody believing that and moving in the same direction.”

(NBC)

 

Ray Shero dismissed by the Devils last night.

 

Tallon out in Florida. Assuming dline is happy with this. I am

 

Rumor started to spread on Saturday. I didn't celebrate anything until it was official.

When I read it this morning, I almost called off work. Today is such a happy, joyous day. Hallelujah! I only wish his firing was more disgraceful. They called it a "mutual parting", and technically he wasn't fired - his contract ended last year, but they kept him around when he delivered Quenneville. So technically they just didn't give him another contract. Frankly, he deserved a public shaming and a "Good riddance" billboard on the way out of town, but I guess this will have to do...

Today starts a new era. Hopefully a better one. What a mess to fix...

 

i dont think you're that far off. A couple nice additions and Id think you're looking at something strong moving forward. Maybe easier said tahn done but I dont think so. Young-ish team still.
Huberdeau and Barkov on extremely team-friendly deals. Up front beyond that there are a lot of moving pieces. Im assuming Hoffman and Dadanov are re-signed.
Haula, Boyle, Wallmark etc.....? Wonder if Tippet is ready to make the jump. I havent given up on Borgstrom yet but his numbers are declining in the AHL. He's so skilled though.
Defense you've got Ekblad and Yandle on decent deals. I know it took a Yandle a bit to get going but he's put up some nice numbers. obviously real thin the rest of the way on D. Stralman overpaid. let's not even talk about MM. Maybe the next GM can somehow vomit that contract out of town.
I have faith in Bob, lets just get a couple more D in front of him. Also, let Spencer Knight marinate as long as possible.