The Search For a GM II: 2nd Round of Interviews Under Way

[belair]

To me the most intriguing thing about McCrimmon is the work he did for the expansion draft with Vegas. They took a year to get to know every organization inside and out to get the best possible assets from them. He's a guy I strongly feel could find some hidden gems.

Teams change an awful lot over two seasons. And if your professional scouting department doesn't already know the ins and outs of its competitors, your organization is already at a significant disadvantage.

It's interesting that Vegas had a year to study other franchises to find the best quality product for themselves, but they were ultimately assisted by the existence of the salary cap in the end. Teams were willing to give them more assets to help them clear cap and protect specific players. Add that to the already softened rules of the expansion draft and you have the result.

McCrimmon in my opinion got a sweet gig in Vegas. I'm not at all convinced he has the know-how or the contacts to be an effective NHL GM though.

 

[Cypress]

Teams change an awful lot over two seasons. And if your professional scouting department doesn't already know the ins and outs of its competitors, your organization is already at a significant disadvantage.

It's interesting that Vegas had a year to study other franchises to find the best quality product for themselves, but they were ultimately assisted by the existence of the salary cap in the end. Teams were willing to give them more assets to help them clear cap and protect specific players. Add that to the already softened rules of the expansion draft and you have the result.

McCrimmon in my opinion got a sweet gig in Vegas. I'm not at all convinced he has the know-how or the contacts to be an effective NHL GM though.

I don't think people are expecting McCrimmon to still have a complete grasp on all teams from two years ago, moreso that he was able to come to good conclusions about what assets were worth going after.

Personally I don't know who I want as gm, just not an OBC puppet. Verbeek, McCrimmon, hunter, etc. I have no choice but to trust Bob nicholson to make a good selection. Hope it works out.

 

[Canovin]

Teams change an awful lot over two seasons. And if your professional scouting department doesn't already know the ins and outs of its competitors, your organization is already at a significant disadvantage.

It's interesting that Vegas had a year to study other franchises to find the best quality product for themselves, but they were ultimately assisted by the existence of the salary cap in the end. Teams were willing to give them more assets to help them clear cap and protect specific players. Add that to the already softened rules of the expansion draft and you have the result.

McCrimmon in my opinion got a sweet gig in Vegas. I'm not at all convinced he has the know-how or the contacts to be an effective NHL GM though.

That's what $500M expansion fee will offer you. Vegas made the NHL richer. That's the ultimate goal

 

[belair]

That's what $500M expansion fee will offer you. Vegas made the NHL richer. That's the ultimate goal

It was a facepalm in my opinion. If Vegas won the Cup in its first year, it would have been a significant black mark in the history of the league.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I still just can't understand how Keith Gretzky is in the running for the job.

If any other team was currently looking for a GM he wouldn't even be interviewed. And he is going to be our GM. Its mind blowing.

3 letters, OBC.

 

[jlockhart89]

Inside the Nation will be discussing the GM position at depths today according to Dustin Nielson, asking on twitter for listeners to submit their questions. I find Dusty to be one of the better "takes" in the Edmonton media right now, so might be worth checking out..

 

[McTonyBrar]

Inside the Nation will be discussing the GM position at depths today according to Dustin Nielson, asking on twitter for listeners to submit their questions. I find Dusty to be one of the better "takes" in the Edmonton media right now, so might be worth checking out..

Wonder why now, all of a sudden

 

[jlockhart89]

Wonder why now, all of a sudden

I'm guessing the media will ramp up speculation pieces and hits this week, due to the new rumored May 1st hiring deadline.

 

[Oilers in NS]

It was a facepalm in my opinion. If Vegas won the Cup in its first year, it would have been a significant black mark in the history of the league.

They were gifted a team. The Sens never got players like Vegas did in their expansion year . It’s not like the other teams didn’t want those players Vegas got, they couldn’t fit them in.
I’m sick of how many people jumped on the Vegas bandwagon . If Vegas takes a slide the next few years, will the fan base still support them?

 

[rboomercat90]

Do you think they surrounded Chiarelli with a diverse staff?

He doesn’t think the staff is any more than window dressing and that a good, hard working GM can do all the work of that staff by himself.

 

[SK13]

Do you think they surrounded Chiarelli with a diverse staff?

Peter Chiarelli took the job here because he got the autonomy of being President and GM, where he was regularly overruled by Cam Neely in Boston. This was reported by Bob McKenzie the day he was hired.

We have never seriously heard ANYTHING from any insider about Chiarelli not being able to alter his staff. The simple fact that Nicholson, after almost no time in the Oilers employ, fired and replaced Craig MacTavish only a couple days after MacT gave a smug, smiley outline for his offseason plans should be a big enough ding in the theory that he was kept on as a mandate from Nicholson or Katz.

But even if you persist with these conspiracy theories and want to rationalize Chiarelli's failures on staff he had no choice but to keep, MOST of what he failed with had his fingerprints all over it. From the Hall trade, to his fascination with Manning, to his insistence to get bigger and the expense of skill, to his handling of contracts for mid-level players and how it poisoned the cap. You can follow his career from Boston and totally connect his disasterous moves in Edmonton with his own career pattern.

Like I said in an earlier post, the last four GMs of the Oilers are clear failures, but are failures in their own way. Chiarelli, and nobody else, is the chief architect of the 18/19 Oilers and their problems. (that doesn't mean the OBC shouldn't be shown the door).

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

3 letters, OBC.

One word, optics.

If I was Nicholson making this decision I'd give on the outward perception that he is still in the mix even if I made my decisions months ago, K. Gretzky was a decent enough soldier and handled himself honorably enough that you can do the small service of pretending it was a tough decision. The NHL is a small microcosm, just a little lip service here or there can make the difference of someone getting overlooked entirely or getting an interview that they might be able to parlay into a job. If you say canned K. Gretzky basically the second the season ended it gives the outward impression that he holds a lot of responsibility for the team failure, opposed to laying the brunt of the blame on Chiarelli.

 

[GOilers88]

It was a facepalm in my opinion. If Vegas won the Cup in its first year, it would have been a significant black mark in the history of the league.

This doesn't make sense to me. Before the start of last year, all the analysts, most fans, and most all the pundits had Vegas marked for a bottom five finish. All season everyone kept saying they couldn't keep it up, and they did. All post season everyone said they wouldn't make it, and they did.

How is an extremely hard working and well coached team full of throw togethers that beat the snot out of every well established team in the league a black mark on the league?

It wasn't until after their run that everyone started turning around and saying "They were gifted an elite team, everything was given to them it was unfair." Does anyone believe right now that William Karlsson or Nate Schmidt or Dave Engelland or Cody Eakin are superstar players? I sure don't. I see a team and a coach who have a plan and know how to execute it. After this post season it would appear many teams in the league need to take a look at Vegas and how they do things.

 

[GOilers88]

Delete

 

[rboomercat90]

We have never seriously heard ANYTHING from any insider about Chiarelli not being able to alter his staff. The simple fact that Nicholson, after almost no time in the Oilers employ, fired and replaced Craig MacTavish only a couple days after MacT gave a smug, smiley outline for his offseason plans should be a big enough ding in the theory that he was kept on as a mandate from Nicholson or Katz.

.

Your definition of what it means to be fired appears to be different than most. Most think being fired means a loss of employment. Yours seems to think it means not only keeping employment but receiving a promotion up the organizational chart.

As far as not hearing from an insider about Chiarelli not being able to alter his staff, isn’t what happened with Howson an indication that was likely the case? It was announced at the end of a season he wasn’t coming back then the organization mentions midway through the next season that he’s still there and had been the entire time. That doesn’t raise an eyebrow with you?

 

[bucks_oil]

This doesn't make sense to me. Before the start of last year, all the analysts, most fans, and most all the pundits had Vegas marked for a bottom five finish. All season everyone kept saying they couldn't keep it up, and they did. All post season everyone said they wouldn't make it, and they did.

How is an extremely hard working and well coached team full of throw togethers that beat the snot out of every well established team in the league a black mark on the league?

It wasn't until after their run that everyone started turning around and saying "They were gifted an elite team, everything was given to them it was unfair." Does anyone believe right now that William Karlsson or Nate Schmidt or Dave Engelland or Cody Eakin are superstar players? I sure don't. I see a team and a coach who have a plan and know how to execute it. After this post season it would appear many teams in the league need to take a look at Vegas and how they do things.

Completely agree!

There is a lot of revisionist history going on.

The management team there (and not sure where to place the credit) collectively did a masterful job.

The best assets they had access to were #3 D, #5 forwards and young players who had the experience to be exposed but hadn’t seized a high end role.

From there it was trades, player growth, chemistry, and coaching.... all of which comes down with credit to their mgmt team.

I think it’s lame when people minimize that by comparing to past expansion drafts. It was COMPLETELY unexpected that you could assemble a contending team from such assets...

I also think it speaks positively to the team nature of this great sport. All credit to them!

 

[Joey Moss]

Man if Babcock gets fired we better not be the team to hire him

 

[SK13]

Your definition of what it means to be fired appears to be different than most. Most think being fired means a loss of employment. Yours seems to think it means not only keeping employment but receiving a promotion up the organizational chart.

Craig MacTavish was fired as the GM of the Edmonton Oilers. He was still under contract, as ALL contracted GMs are when they are relieved. He was then allowed to serve as assistant with the title VP of hockey ops. That's not a promotion, that's a demotion. In one of the most embarassing fashions (a fact that was not lost to posters here at the time). Kind of makes the whole OBC kabal thing look weak to me.

I don't doubt his friends wanted him to stay and continue to be an Oiler exec. I do doubt they told a man who made being President of Hockey Ops a contingent on signing as GM in the first place so he could have autonomy he didn't have before was told he wasn't allowed to pick his staff.

As for Scott Howson, I don't know what went on there. Nobody has ever credibly said that someone tried to fire him and was stopped. It could have been as simple as the man changing his mind on leaving. What does he even do anyway?

I'll repeat this in bold so the meaning of my argument here doesn't get lost on people: The OBC sucks and should be fired. The biggest problem of the Oilers in the McDavid era was still very, very obviously Peter Chiarelli.

 

[Ck1]

If hunter is hired as our gm does he do everything possible to clear cap and offer sheet his draft Marner ?

 

[yegoldboysclub]

If hunter is hired as our gm does he do everything possible to clear cap and offer sheet his draft Marner ?

When it mattered most Marner had 4 shots in final 4 games, no thanks.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Completely agree!

There is a lot of revisionist history going on.

The management team there (and not sure where to place the credit) collectively did a masterful job.

The best assets they had access to were #3 D, #5 forwards and young players who had the experience to be exposed but hadn’t seized a high end role.

From there it was trades, player growth, chemistry, and coaching.... all of which comes down with credit to their mgmt team.

I think it’s lame when people minimize that by comparing to past expansion drafts. It was COMPLETELY unexpected that you could assemble a contending team from such assets...

I also think it speaks positively to the team nature of this great sport. All credit to them!

Bullshit

Jonathan Marchessault had 30 goals AND they got Reilly Smith and a 4th
James Neal was a proven 30 goal scorer
David Perron we know is good for 20 goals
MA Fleury was a legitimate #1 Cup winning All Star Goalie AND they got a 2nd
Marc Methot was a proven Top 4 Dman (Traded)

Eric Haula was a VERY reliable Top 6 centre AND they got Tuch (1st rounder) for taking him.

Islanders gave them a 1st+2nd to take on a salary dump.

Sorry man, no revisionist history needed. They got a stacked team with a TON of depth right out of the gate.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Man if Babcock gets fired we better not be the team to hire him

I watched Game 7, and Babcock was astonishingly as bad as Tmac.

Why the hell was Matthews only playing for 18mins that final game? when they were trailing for most of it?

Why the hell was Patrick Marleau on for 15mins when he's been completely ineffective?

Why the hell did he just roll lines when they were down in the 3rd with the season on the line?


No Thanks to the cock swap.

 

[bobbythebrain]

When it mattered most Marner had 4 shots in final 4 games, no thanks.

LOL. He was awesome in the playoffs last year. Can't stand when people use small samples to talk nonsense

He's a stud, but alas we could never afford him anyway

 

[Ck1]

When it mattered most Marner had 4 shots in final 4 games, no thanks.

I heard all the same things about ebs and so far this playoffs ebs is not the same player he was in his first playoff appearance and Marner is only 21. I wouldn’t put to much into one series. He does have 17 point in 20 playoff games

 

[Joey Moss]

So either we interview McCrimmon or my bracket stays alive.

Tough one.