NHL announces Ken Holland's replacement in league executive role
Photo credit: The Hockey Writers
The NHL announced today that former Oilers general manager Ken Holland has been replaced by Stars general manager Jim Nill on the GM's executive committee.
This change was prompted by the departure of Holland as his contract was not renewed by the Oilers. To qualify for this committee, you need to be an active general manager within the NHL.
This committee isn't viewed as a group who makes decisions but meant to be a liaison between the general managers at large and the National Hockey League. This committee organizes general managers meetings and helps collaborate and point out issues which would be brought forward prior to meeting with the NHL.
Holland has been a general manager for over two decades as he worked with the Detroit Red Wings and then with the Oilers. There was speculation for several months that Holland was stepping down as general manager as he was preparing for retirement. This notion cannot be substantiated as he has mentioned he had still interest in being an executive within the league, the Oilers decided to move forward with CEO Jeff Jackson and newly hired general manager Stan Bowman formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Holland built the Oilers to be a Cup contender and were only a few goals away from winning their Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers in Game 7. He also received criticism from many pundits who feel that his drafting record and prospects within the Oilers did not workout as expected.
This committee has a strong base with Doug Armstrong, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Don Waddell and Steve Yzerman with Nill. It remains to be seen on what these guys have in store soon as the NHL will be busy with several big-ticket items including negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement.
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