EDMONTON — Ken Holland will not return as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers once his five-year contract expires July 1.
Holland and the Oilers mutually agreed to part ways Thursday, according to Edmonton CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson, who will act as interim GM while conducting the search for a permanent replacement.
“It’s been a real pleasure working with Ken, he’s a fantastic human being as you all well know,” Jackson said via Zoom from the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft in Las Vegas on Thursday. “When I met with Ken yesterday to formalize a discussion that had been ongoing this season, it’s not a surprise to Ken or to me that we mutually decided this was the best thing.
“He was ready to move on and we’re going to go in a different direction. We had a great hour-long meeting and as you guys know Ken, lots of laughs and different things and reminiscing on the season. So from that point of view, I just want to thank Ken for everything he’s done both personally and professionally with me and our staff this year.”
The Oilers qualified for the NHL postseason every season under Holland, who was named general manager and president of hockey operations on May 7, 2019.
Edmonton was eliminated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs qualifying round to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020, lost in the First Round to the Winnipeg Jets in 2021, lost in the Western Conference Final to the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, and to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in 2023 before making it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final this season, losing to the Florida Panthers.
Before joining the Oilers, Holland had been general manager of the Detroit Red Wings for 22 seasons, winning the Stanley Cup three times (1998, 2002, 2008), and once as assistant general manager in 1997. He was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.
Jackson said he is not interested in taking on the GM role permanently and will begin the process of interviewing candidates immediately.
Rick Pracey, Edmonton’s director of amateur scouting, will run the draft for the Oilers, who do not have a pick in the first, third or fourth rounds. Of their six selections, one is in the second round, one is in the fifth and they have two in each of the sixth and seventh rounds.
“Now we move on, we have a lot of work to do,” Jackson said. “Our season success this year put us in a spot where we don’t have a lot of time to do things. The League’s been operating while we were playing, we have our own unrestricted free agents to sign, we have the draft, we have free agency, and I have to find a new general manager.”
Jackson said he was aware Holland would not be coming back once his contract expired but did not want to begin the search for his replacement until the season concluded. Both he and Holland did not want to be a distraction for the Oilers on the ice.
“This was not a surprise,” Jackson said. “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 permission from teams while playing. In our business, everything makes it way into the public realm.
“Obviously I’ve been formulating plans in my head and mapping things out with the hope we would get really far and knowing it would be difficult. Here we are and I’m going to move forward in the next couple of weeks and get the things done that we need to get done.”
In Edmonton, Holland and the Oilers surrounded their two standout centers, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with a competitive team, thanks to a number of excellent signings and trades during his tenure.
“There’s a couple that immensely contributed to the success,” Jackson said. “Obviously the Zach Hyman free agent signing (on July 28, 2021) was a brilliant one. Not only has Hyman continued to improve as a goal-scorer but he brings so much leadership to the team and anyone who covers the team knows the quality of a person he is.”
The 32-year-old forward scored an NHL career-high 54 goals this season, third in the League behind Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (69) and Panthers center Sam Reinhart (57). His 77 points (23 assists) in 80 games were fourth on Edmonton. Hyman led all goal-scorers in the playoffs with 16, and had 22 points (six assists) in 25 games.
“The Mattias Ekholm trade with (the) Nashville [Predators] at the (NHL Trade) deadline a year ago (on Feb. 28, 2023) can be another thing that is looked at as it changed the trajectory of a lot of things,” Jackson said. “‘Ekky’ brings so much to leadership, compete, mentoring; it allowed the team last year and this year to elevate ‘Bouch’ [defenseman Evan Bouchard] and he responded, they’re a great pair.”
The 34-year-old defenseman had an NHL career-high 45 points (11 goals, 34 assists) in 79 games this season and 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 25 playoff games.
Goalie Calvin Pickard is also a pending unrestricted free agent and Jackson will have to make a decision on goalie Jack Campbell, who was waived and sent to Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Nov. 9 and did not play for the Oilers the rest of the season.
Campbell could be a candidate for a buyout, with three years left on a five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million average annual value) he signed on July 13, 2022.
“At this point I’m not going to comment on Jack,” Jackson said. “We’re looking at every option we can on various things, including Jack. At this point we’re not planning (a buyout), we’re considering.”
Draisaitl, second on the Oilers in scoring this season behind McDavid with 106 points (41 goals, 65 assists) in 81 games, is also entering the final season of an eight-year, $68 million contract ($8.5 million AAV) he signed on Aug. 16, 2017. He can become an unrestricted free agent after next season.
“With respect with Leon, we haven’t started negotiations with him,” Jackson said. “I’m sure that during this week at the draft, I will see Mike Liut, who’s his agent, and we’ll have a discussion. I think it’s critically important the general manager is in place before we get into the meat of that discussion.”
