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Was Ken Holland Good... Or Lucky?

March 15, 2020, 2:36 PM ET [30 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Day 4 of no hockey... supplies running low... I have turned to cooking shows to fill the void.... there was one episode where a chef was making a soufflé but he took it out too early and it flopped to the ground like a pancake...... I called it Kris Russell.

Moving on.

This might very well be the end of the 2019/2020 season and even if we do end up getting some kind of shortened season, now is still a great time to take a look at the Oilers season as a whole, specifically the work that Ken Holland did in his first year as GM of the Edmonton Oilers.

Very few individuals looked at the Edmonton Oilers as a playoff team this season. In fact, here were my standings predictions from July 24th:

Vegas Golden Knights
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Arizona Coyotes
Anaheim Ducks
LA Kings

I'll pat myself on the back for predicting the Canucks were going to have a good year. Ignore where I put the Sharks please.

I saw the Oilers as a team fighting for a playoff position until the very end but coming up short. The fact that they up until the season was suspended, were competing for first in the division was a pleasant albeit unexpected result.

Much of the team's success can be attributed to the work that Ken Holland, but what does he deserve credit for and what doesn't he?

DESERVES CREDIT

TRADES

Making trades is the most active way a general manager can influence a team. So far Holland has made 6 trades as Oilers GM. Two of the deals were moving out players that did not have a future in this organization in Joel Persson and John Marino. Seeing how Marino has flourished in Pittsburgh is tough to see but Marino felt he didn't have a chance to crack the NHL roster in Edmonton with the players above him on the depth chart.

Trading Milan Lucic for James Neal remains the best move Holland has performed yet. Neal scored 19 goals for the Oilers this season, was a massive help on what became the league's best powerplay and is still a contract that can be bought out this coming summer, something that Lucic's could not.

Tyler Ennis and Mike Green were both solid depth moves that cost very little and would be solid additions to any playoff team. The Green injury was unfortunate but that doesn't make it a bad move from Holland.

The one move that we won't be able to fully judge until next season is trading two second round picks for Andreas Athanasiou. Athanasiou was supposed to come in and match in well with the Oilers speedy top six and while he has had some good games, has yet to really mesh with the team. As an RFA, the Oilers retain his rights and have a chance to sign him again next season.

THE TRADES HE DIDN'T MAKE

This is something that often goes overlooked. Ken Holland could have come in and immediately tried to put his stamp on the team by trading players like Oscar Klefbom or Ryan Nugent Hopkins, similar to how Peter Chiarelli devastating left his own mark on the team.

SIGNINGS

One area Holland was certainly responsible was his bottom six signings. Riley Sheahan, Josh Archibald, Gaetan Haas, and Joakim Nygard all came in and provided more offense than what the 2018/2019 Oilers were able to bring. Perhaps more importantly was what these players, specifically Archibald and Sheahan were able to bring to the Oilers PK, turning a league worst PK into one of the best.

Some of his signings; Jurco, Granlund, and the Chiasson extension were misses but none of those will hurt this team in the long term.

Mike Smith has also been a key addition to this team and provided the Oilers with a solid 1A option between the pipes.

THE LUCKY

There are a number of additions this season that I don't give Holland credit for.

Ethan Bear came in and immediately being an effective top four defenseman. Had Larsson not been injured, Bear looked like he was going to fit in on a third pairing or as a seventh. Had Bear not stepped up like he did, Holland would have run a top four of Klefbom, Nurse, Larsson and likely Russell filling in the final spot.

Similar stories for Kailer Yamamoto and Caleb Jones. I will credit Holland for not throwing both players into the fray like Peter Chiarelli did with his young players, but I give far more credit to the coaching staffs at both the AHL and NHL level. These were not players brought in by Ken Holland.

Holland certainly brought in some important players and has been the best GM the Oilers have had in some time but the proper development of young prospects was a major impact on the roster this season.
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