Speculation: Who is really running Hockey Ops to close out the season?

[guymez]

So now that Chia has been shown the door the team has announced that K. Gretzky is now the Interim GM and the man in charge of Hockey Ops Decisions.
Is he really?
Lots of talk about the OBC running the show and lots of so called 'connected' media people like John Shannon shouting out loud that this isnt true. Bob Stauffer doing everything in his power to protect the brand and discredit the OBC narrative.
To his credit Mark Spector has been raising the reality that MacT is still in a power position with the team.
I think Mark is 100% correct.

Lets take a look at things...
The Oilers website (Coaches & Management ) shows McTavish as the Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations.

So take a good look...this is the man currently running the Oilers Hockey Ops....

CRAIG MACTAVISH

Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations

Craig MacTavish, 60, enters his fourth season as the Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations, after previously serving as the club's General Manager for two seasons. MacTavish previously served as Edmonton's Senior Vice- President of Hockey Operations in 2012-13.
MacTavish was the Head Coach of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League in 2011-12, prior to joining the Edmonton Oilers, leading the Vancouver Canucks' AHL affiliate to a 42-27-7 record, the third best in the conference.



This means that K. Gretzky reports to MacT. So every decision Keith makes over the course of this season (up until the team hires a replacement) will be handled by MacT at some point in the process. Of course once the new man is in place he will be forced to take on MacT as an advisor....its the Katz way.
In any event being the main man in charge right now MacT has more influence and sway than K. Gretzky.
How is it that Bob and others can willfully ignore that and claim that the OBC has no influence on decision making?

I had a serious problem with this hierarchy before Chia was hired simply because the POHO should be able to bring in his own advisors...his own people. He shouldn't have to take on advisors simply because they are in positions of power for no other reason than they are friends of Katz.

This current situation is actually worse in that regard now that Chia is gone because MacT is no longer in an advisory role...he is the defacto boss of Hockey Ops.

K Gretzky is the public face...he is the one people like John Shannon and Bob Stauffer are trying to funnel our attention toward. So with this reality...how is it that we are supposed to believe that THIS time things are going to be different?

IMO we need to push back on Shannon and Stauffer trying to spin this false narrative and make sure we keep the reality of the Oilers structure in the public eye until the team is forced to make some real changes.

Click to read more...

 

[belair]

Culture.

 

[guymez]

Culture.

Culture indeed.
The only chance we have at change is to keep shinning a light on this dysfunctional team structure until they are forced to make changes.
We cant let the reality of this situation get obscured and hijacked by people like John Shannon and Bob Stauffer.

 

[elmeroil]

Obviously it's Mac T. The man who didn't wear a helmet in his NHL career!

 

[guymez]

Here is John Shannon doing his best (on Bobs show Jan 28th) right at the top of the segment trying to spin the 'old guard is no longer involved in hockey ops' narrative.
A lot of energy being spent on this. Check out how many times John repeats the phrase "I just dont see the old guard being involved in hockey decisions."

Jan 28 - Oilers Now Seg 2 - Sportsnet's John Shannon - Oilers NOW with Bob Stauffer - Omny.fm

 

[Frank the Tank]

I don't see the logic in making the leap from MacT being in a position of power with the Oilers, which is a reasonable assumption, to him being in the position of power. All because of a website listing?

 

[McBooya42]

Obviously it's Mac T. The man who didn't wear a helmet in his NHL career!

What a stupid post...no one did during the majority of his career.

 

[McGoMcD]

An upgrade from Chia...... sigh. Still not good.

 

[guymez]

I don't see the logic in making the leap from MacT being in a position of power with the Oilers, which is a reasonable assumption, to him being in the position of power. All because of a website listing?

So the main vehicle that the organization uses to reach the public is flat out wrong?

Is that what you believe?

Or are you suggesting that the Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations is a secondary role to the Interim GM?

 

[Frank the Tank]

So the main vehicle that the organization uses to reach the public is flat out wrong?

Is that what you believe?

Or are you suggesting that the Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations is a secondary role to the Interim GM?

Yes, the website listing is vague unless it specifically shows a hierarchy listing. Titles are also vague. My point being, we don't know who reports to whom right now, and why clutch our pearls about it until some actual evidence surfaces?

 

[GodPucker]

Kevin Lowe. He probably has a fake FB account or something. Contacts Mac T from his ops side. Mac T sends orders down. It's always been Kevin Lowe.

You know Mess and Gretz are above him and just relay the info down to Lowe. The Gm here just follows their orders 100%

He's just a figurehead.

 

[belair]

Who are our pro scouts? Same three guys.

The boardroom meetings are all the same guys--minus one.

The job search currently being conducted is for someone who embodies this team's 'culture'.

Though I genuinely believe this board generally overvalues the power and intelligence these guys (GMs, upper management, scouts) have, you're doing your team a great disservice if you build a team around a 'culture' that has been marred with over a decade of failures.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

I call Keith/Harrison combo, I think they hold off on announcing the Harrison piece until 4 pm on. Friday before a long weekend in the summer but I have a feeling he’s already involved.

 

[Soundwave]

I don't think there will be any major trades or moves until the new GM is here anyway.

They'll do stuff like ship Talbot out and clear out whatever salary they got but that's about it.

 

[rboomercat90]

Culture.

Nicholson has already stated the new GM will be somebody that fits into Oiler culture. Other than the puppets, nothing changes around here.

 

[Cypress]

My assumption is Kevin Lowe, with Keith Gretzky as the face since lowe has a poor reputation with fans and other gms. Lowe makes the decisions then gets Keith to make the calls.

Though job title suggests mac t, so it could be him.

 

[Little Fury]

Who are our pro scouts? Same three guys.

The boardroom meetings are all the same guys--minus one.

The job search currently being conducted is for someone who embodies this team's 'culture'.

Though I genuinely believe this board generally overvalues the power and intelligence these guys (GMs, upper management, scouts) have, you're doing your team a great disservice if you build a team around a 'culture' that has been marred with over a decade of failures.

If you set out to build a team around "culture" period you're doing it wrong and setting yourself up to fail.

 

[elmeroil]

What a stupid post...no one did during the majority of his career.

He should be GM then....again. And no one wore helmets during the majority of his career... you sure about that fella?

 

[belair]

If you set out to build a team around "culture" period you're doing it wrong and setting yourself up to fail.

I don't think that's necessarily true. The Detroit Red Wings had a fabulous stretch where they were the gold standard for player development in the National Hockey League. They also turned assistants into full time NHL coaches, scouts, managers on other franchises. Their 'culture' of over ripening young talent created one of the most successful franchises in this era, top to bottom. Their successes literally rolled onto other franchises.

Over the past 13 seasons our team has literally done the opposite. In the salary cap era when you rush the prospects, they end up underdeveloped, overwhelmed, overplayed and overpaid. That combination results in poor on-ice results and your fans eventually turning on them and pushing them out of town at ridiculously low costs. As a result the team is always struggling to ice a roster with sufficient depth, reaching to the inflationary UFA market to fill key roles from a limited selection of players.

Rinse, repeat.

This organization needs an enema in the worst way.

 

[McBooya42]

He should be GM then....again. And no one wore helmets during the majority of his career... you sure about that fella?

During his NHL career...absolutely.

Correction/admission - all of them being used incorrectly as a figure of speech. There were a lot of them who didnt, not all as initially stated.

Besides all of that. Like I said in another post. If Bob's naming ANY of the OBC as the new GM, he's packing his stuff right after.

There's no way in hell it's happening as much as a lot of posters here insist it will happen (idiotic really).

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Lets be 100% honest here.


All decisions were a homogenized group think tank of OBC, Chia, Bob Nicholson, and Keith Gretz.

This includes MacT and Lowe. They might not have had a hand in the actual operations, but they're 100% involved in steering this ship.

Chia was just a messenger of a deeply flawed group think tank.

 

[CupofOil]

Lets be 100% honest here.


All decisions were a homogenized group think tank of OBC, Chia, Bob Nicholson, and Keith Gretz.

This includes MacT and Lowe. They might not have had a hand in the actual operations, but they're 100% involved in steering this ship.

Chia was just a messenger of a deeply flawed group think tank.

No. Chia is a really poor GM who made really poor decisions. Besides the Reinhart trade which had OBC stench all over it, this current mess is all on the Chia Pet.

With that said, the OBC stink still pollutes this organization. Let's just hope the new GM has the autonomy to bring in his staff and not be force-fed MacT, Howson and their group of pro scout failures.

 

[rboomercat90]

During his NHL career...absolutely.

Correction/admission - all of them being used incorrectly as a figure of speech. There were a lot of them who didnt, not all as initially stated.

Besides all of that. Like I said in another post. If Bob's naming ANY of the OBC as the new GM, he's packing his stuff right after.

There's no way in hell it's happening as much as a lot of posters here insist it will happen (idiotic really).

It’s not happening because none of them need to operate as the public face of the franchise anymore. Being that public face means being accountable for whatever the results end up being. The question the last 3 1/2 years has been how much influence they’re able to peddle behind the scenes where there is no accountability. This is where it’s much worse and why the entire organization needs to be flushed before anything improves.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

No. Chia is a really poor GM who made really poor decisions. Besides the Reinhart trade which had OBC stench all over it, this current mess is all on the Chia Pet.

With that said, the OBC stink still pollutes this organization. Let's just hope the new GM has the autonomy to bring in his staff and not be force-fed MacT, Howson and their group of pro scout failures.

There's no way Chia wasn't involving the two previous GM's sitting in the same room as him in any decision making.

 

[Del Preston]

Keith Gretzky is the assistant GM. I assume it's him.