The Edmonton Oilers are expected to name a general manager this year and one name that keeps coming up is Jason Botterill, who was a key member of the Pittsburgh Penguins management team when that franchise won three Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017.
Botterill is now Asst. GM in Seattle to Ron Francis.
Asked by Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now which teams might have been approached by Oilers hockey boss Jeff Jackson for permission to talk with an existing staff member, NHL insider Frank Servalli mentioned one team, the Seattle Kraken in regards to Botterill.
But it could be that Francis will be promoted to the president’s role in Seattle with Botterill elevated to be general manager, Seravalli said. “I don’t think that part has sorted itself out yet but speaking to people close to the Seattle Kraken organization, they wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen…But if you were talking external candidates and asking permission, my assumption would be that Jason Botterill would be toward the top of that list for the Oilers.”
My take
1. Seravalli is a top NHL insider, so this rumour has a great amount of credibility around it.
2. I hadn’t been keen on Botterill due to his time as Buffalo Sabres GM from 2017 to 2020. Buffalo has been out of the playoffs 13 straight years and didn’t do well in Botterill’s three seasons at the helm. But Buffalo draft well, picking up Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin in the first round, though Dahlin was the consensus first choice. But Buffalo also grabbed solid goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and useful d-man Mattias Samuelsson in Botterill’s drafts.
3. He ran Pittsburgh’s Wilkes Barre/Scranton AHL team from 2010 to 2017, when that team developed NHLs like Robert Bortuzzo, Mark Letestu, Brian Dumoulin, Bryan Rust, Matt Murray, Connor Sheary, Carter Rowney, Jake Guentzel, Tristan Jarry, Josh Archibald, Oscar Sundqvist, and Teddy Blueger, with some of those players becoming key figures in Pittsburgh’s 2016 and 2017 Cup-winning runs.
4. Botterill, 49, was born in Edmonton and became a star college hockey player at the University of Michigan, 1993-1997. He was the first round pick, 20th overall, of the Dallas Stars in 1994, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 220-pound winger with size, skill and aggression. He played three seasons for Team Canada at the World Junior tournament. But his NHL career only last 88 games over seven seasons.
5. It’s evident that Edmonton’s management team will be a team effort, with Jackson leading the way. Botterill was a main player for years in an excellent management team in Pittsburgh. He’s highly-qualified. It will be no surprise at all if he gets the Edmonton job.
6. On a side note, Botterill’s sister Jennifer was a strong player for years on the Canadian national team and is a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada.
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