Ken Holland could leave the Oilers in a few days

A year ago, the Oilers brought in Jeff Jackson to run the club’s hockey operations. We’re talking about Connor McDavid’s former agent.

At the time, GM Ken Holland had one year left on his contract. And you know as well as I do that a manager in the last year of his contract is always a tricky proposition.

And the Oilers, instead of extending his contract, put a boss over his head. It was already off to a bad start.

I’ve always thought that Holland, who no longer has the aura he had during his years at the helm of the Red Wings, must not appreciate his bosses’ “initiative” and was living on borrowed time in Edmonton.

There’s been little talk of this recently, as the Oilers’ attention has been focused on the Stanley Cup, but now it’s something to think about. After all, his contract expires in a few days, on June 30.

Lately, it’s become clear that the Oilers don’t seem to want to keep him on as GM, since he hasn’t necessarily talked much about contracts with the club and isn’t expected to be present at the next draft, which takes place tomorrow.

And now, according to Elliotte Friedman (Sportsnet) and his sources, the Oilers are going to let the veteran’s contract run out in the next few days. He’ll be a free agent in just a few days.

Oilers, Canucks:https://t.co/hhB4EGKvum

– Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 27, 2024

Is it amazing? No.

Will it make him coveted elsewhere? If so, it won’t be as GM in the short term, since the other 31 active NHL teams have a man in place. But keep an eye on the Blackhawks in some role, according to Scottie Upshall.

Source telling me that Ken Holland could be on his way to the Chicago Blackhawks. Position to be determined. Could this be the beginning of building new dynasty there in Chi town?!? They have the cap space and the draft picks! We will see how this plays out…

– Scottie Upshall (@ScottieUpshall) June 26, 2024

In other words, the Oilers will be entering a pivotal off-season (draft and free agents) without a GM in place. Most likely, they won’t find one by next Monday.

So Jeff Jackson will be running the show, which makes sense.

Overtime

– Gary Bettman can take whoever he wants to bring hockey back to Arizona right now. It may not happen right away, though. The arena issue is still a problem, you know.

Now that Alex Meruelo has terminated his right to reactivate the Arizona Coyotes franchise, the NHL confirms to me that his exclusive 5-year window to bring the team back is now void. NHL will be open to any new prospective owner interested in the AZ market.

– David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) June 26, 2024