Sportsnet is reporting that Edmonton Oilers president of hockey ops and general manager Ken Holland told the media that the long-time NHL executive intends to honor the final season of his five-year contract. Holland added that he isn’t sure how long he will stay in the role but he has unfinished business.
Edmonton has been a disappointment in each of the four seasons that Holland has been at the helm, they’ve qualified for the postseason all four years, however, they’ve only advanced past the second round once. The Oilers had another strong regular season this year going 50-23-9, however they were ousted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in six games.
Holland came into the organization with a lot of fanfare after leading the Detroit Red Wings to multiple Stanley Cups in his time in the motor city. However, in Edmonton, he has been unable to build around the two best players in the game in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Holland has never been able to solidify Edmonton’s goaltending which was once again a big part of their undoing in the playoffs. Jack Campbell was brought in from the Toronto Maple Leafs on a five-year, $25M contract, but he failed to live up to expectations. Stuart Skinner was fine in the regular season but the young netminder crumbled under the postseason pressure and was yanked several times after putting up a .883 save percentage.
Edmonton has also struggled to build up depth scoring beyond their top six. McDavid, Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did the heavy lifting this year, but the bottom six was a black hole. Warren Foegele but up 28 points in 67 games but beyond that, there wasn’t much.
Holland will have his work cut out for him as he tries to give Edmonton another kick at the can. But given their lack of success in the postseason, fans are getting antsy as the Oilers enter the last couple of years of McDavid and Draisaitl’s current contracts.
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