The job of a general manager is all about calculated risk.
And the Edmonton Oilers made the job of hiring a general manager a risky calculation when they brought in Stan Bowman to fill the big chair vacated by Ken Holland this off-season.
If you don’t know Bowman’s background by now then you haven’t been paying attention to all the speculation this summer that he was going to wind up in Edmonton.
And sure enough, once his suspension was lifted over the mismanagement of the 2010 Kyle Beach sexual assault with the Chicago Blackhawks, Bowman would be named the new Oilers GM.
Whether he should have been or not, there is no denying Bowman’s impressive Stanley Cup-studded resume, which includes three championships in a span of six seasons.
It’s the very thing that motivated the Oilers in their attempt to push this hiring through their concerned fan base, hoping the culture of winning Bowman brings will help push an Oilers squad that’s currently on the cusp right over the brink.
And not just next season, but for years to come.
Because, let’s face it, the championship window for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl isn’t getting any bigger with each passing year. And in that sense, the Oilers are a desperate organization.
Maybe not desperate in the same sense of a down-and-out bottom dweller in the standings might look to bring a winning GM with a sordid history into the fold to help turn things around quickly.
The difference here is the Oilers are about as far as it gets from scraping the bottom of the standings barrel, having come up one win shy of winning it all last year.
Never mind one win, if the last goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final went their way instead of the way of the Florida Panthers, then things would have been different.
And you don’t get that close without having team chemistry in spades. You know, those intangibles that keeps everyone working in the same direction and fighting for the person beside them. The locker-room glue that holds it all together through thick and thin.
The thing that you can’t always buy even with New York Yankees money. Just ask the New York Yankees …
Now, it’s true the Oilers are no strangers to giving people a second chance. Evander Kane and Corey Perry have both ended up being reclamation projects that made an impact on the roster.
And it’s not like Bowman will be a daily fixture inside the physical dressing room at Rogers Place.
But as one of the top figureheads in Oilers hockey operations, who works alongside CEO Jeff Jackson in all decisions, big and small, to be made on Darryl Katz’s team, Bowman will contribute to shaping the culture of the team going forward.
Both the culture of winning and losing, as well as the more overarching culture of how players are treated, from superstars to role-players.
And that might have as much of an effect on the end product as anything else he ends up doing on the job.
But for now, Bowman’s been reinstated, he’s been hired and he’s addressed his pressing personal issues. The only thing for him to do now is to get back to the business of hockey.
Up first is the duty of focusing on the future of the roster. While things look promising at the moment, there are only so many prospects pouring through the pipeline.
“Looking back on my time in Chicago, I think you learn some things from that,” Bowman said. “There are challenges in the sport with the salary cap, but everyone’s dealing with the same challenge and I think it’s always better when you’ve got these impact players. They give you such a head start on it.
“I think the supporting cast is what’s important. You have to be able to find players that can come in, whether it’s young players or free agents. I think that’s going to be a focus for the organization. It’s something I felt was the strength of our group in Chicago, whether it’s European free agents, college free agents, CHL (Canadian Hockey League) free agents.”
The talent is out there, it’s just a matter of identifying which pieces would fit best into the Oilers puzzle — both on the ice and within the team’s all-important culture.
“The draft is an important element as well. Even if you don’t have first- and second-round picks because you’re using those to improve your team, if you do it right, you can find players throughout the draft,” Bowman said. “You have to be able to find players to support your core group. We’ve got a great core group here, and the key thing over the coming years is to make sure we have players that can come in, whether it’s young players or lower-priced players, but still make an impact on the roster.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge