Get good players. Keep good players.
Easier said than done. But those who are successful in doing that tend to win.
For newly minted Oilers General Manager Stan Bowman, it is fair to argue that the first half of that has been largely done for him.
But the second half is very much his gig. And he arrives at the job with that clock already ticking.
That and more in this edition of…
9 Things
9. The tribute to Jasper by the Edmonton Oilers on social media Thursday struck just the right tone. Not only has the club often trained there but numerous season ticket holders drive to game from there. We are thinking of you, folks.
8. Congratulations to Connor and Lauren McDavid. The happy couple exchanged their vows on Saturday. While not strictly “hockey,” I for one am pleased someone lie Connor who has given his fan base so much joy gets his share, too.
7. Reid Wilkins, formerly of 630 CHED and Oilers pre- and post-game broadcasts, will resurface this Fall. He will be 3-6pm Weekdays on the Edmonton Sports Talk on-line product, head-to-head with heavyweight Sports Talkers Bob Stauffer and Jason Gregor in that same general timeslot.
6. Watching the Olympics in France reminds me of how professional hockey fans have been for too long robbed of this opportunity. And while the path forward looks positive for NHL athletes returning, in that regard, neither the public nor a specific generation of players will ever get those lost opportunities back. What a shame.
5. Oilers Hockey School kicked off this past week. The first guest instructor was the newly acquired St. Albert product Matthew Savoie. Matt will have a bigger impact on those kids than he may realize. Many of my summers as a kid were spent at the Dunn-Munroe Hockey School in Swift Current. My instructors included Terry Ruskowski and the late Brad McCrimmon. All had a major influence on me.
4. The Oilers have hired Erik Elenz as a video and analytics coaching coordinator. He arrives here via four years with the University of Vermont and two seasons with the AHL’s Coachella Firebirds. I look at this and the hiring of Michael Parkatti as director of Data and Analytics as two in the same. It is Jeff Jackson adding brain power to this side of the game. When trying to win, leave no stone unturned.
3. Stuart Skinner quietly crept into the franchise’s all-time regular season games played Top-10 list this past season. He is at 123. A 50+ game season for him in 2024-25 is a reasonable bet. If that transpires, he would right on the tail of Dwayne Roloson who is sixth all-time at 193 games. The Oilers Top-5 games by a goalie: Cam Talbot (227), Andy Moog (235), Tommy Salo (334), Grant Fuhr (423) and Bill Ranford (449).
2. I hear some people asking why the Oilers have not yet addressed the contract of Evan Bouchard. 2023-24 was a truly a coming out party for the talented rearguard, as he emerged as a top-pairing D-man. But while I sure do not disagree with the sentiment around an extension, why would Bouchard’s camp do that? He will be an RFA next Summer with arbitration rights. Given his 18-64-82 in 81GP regular season and his 6-26-32 in 25 playoff games, Bouchard and his bridge contract sit firmly in the driver’s seat.
-Last week, I wrote an editorial on the hiring of Stan Bowman as General Manager and V.P. of the Edmonton Oilers. It focused on the real concerns off of the ice. If you missed it, please follow this link. But while that story will and should not go away, let us focus today on how Bowman will manage the Oilers on the ice.
1.The Oilers organization, at the top of the food chain, looks radically different than it did 12 months ago. In July 2023, a 67-year-old Hall of Famer in Ken Holland was entering the final year of his contract. The 70-year-old Bob Nicholson oversaw hockey operations as CEO of OEG. Today, in July 2024, neither man has his photo on the Oilers website. And two much younger executives have taken their place: The 59-year-old Jeff Jackson as CEO brings with him an extensive agency background as well as a solid career NHL player. And as General Manager, Stan Bowman (51), G.M. for three Stanley Cups in Chicago and a guy who you know must be hungry to rebuild that reputation in Edmonton. That is not an insignificant transformation for a club coming off a Stanley Cup Final Game 7.
First on the list for Stan Bowman: The pending Leon Draisaitl contract negotiation. The result of how this goes is sure to be one of the two most consequential moves of Bowman’s tenure in Edmonton, no matter how long or short the new G.M. lasts. The other, of course, will be the eventual Connor McDavid negotiation. No easy soft balls just to get going. The first file on Bowman’s desk is a potentially franchise-altering one. Right into the fire with you.
The smartest thing I heard Stan Bowman say in his introductory media conference, from a strictly hockey point of view, was this:
“The hardest thing to do in the game is to get star players” and that Leon “is a priority for me.”
There are of course many chapters to any book. The rest of the Edmonton roster is hardly inconsequential. But what will set the franchise apart from many of their competitors is the fact that McDavid and Draisaitl are in Edmonton. They are great players on their own. They make the others around them better. And they make others who are not around want to be in Edmonton. They are the cake and bake it, too.
I fully expect the club to extend Draisaitl. I am also confident that Leon will choose the max eight-year range. As for the dollars, I expect the number to be closer to a 14 than a 12. And as for when? I am not as sure of that. Some say it could be this week. But others who should know…do not seem sure at all.
Whenever it does transpire, though, the question is not whether Leon Draisaitl will be worth the money Stan Bowman eventually spends on him.
Rather, it how good can the Edmonton Oilers be if he does not.
Now on Threads @kleavins. Also, find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at [email protected]. This article is not AI generated.
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