Former Leaf potential candidate for vacant Oilers GM position.

Roughly a week and a half ago the Edmonton Oilers made a move that had long been anticipated by fans and pundits alike when they announced that general manager Peter Chiarelli had been fired. It was unquestionably the right move and one that was proceeded by one of the worst tenures as a general manager for any team in the National Hockey League in recent history. Although I suppose no surprise given that the man was best known for a catastrophic trade involving Tyler Seguin and taking a team that another man built to a Stanley Cup Champonship.

That being said it also, mercifully, marked the end of an era in Edmonton and fans are hoping that it will also usher in a new one once new leadership is established. What is surprising however is that in a recent report Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Chris Johnston revealed that the Oilers have not yet conducted any interviews for their vacant general manager position.

"It's been 10 days now since Peter Chiarelli was dismissed as the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers and I think that it's interesting guys that they have not yet talked to any potential candidates for this job. Part of that is procedural,  it's during the season and some of the best candidates like Kelly McCrimmon, assistant general manager for the Las Vegas Golden Knights, would not be available to speak at this time."

It's an interesting decision from the Oilers and one that may indicate that they will be much more careful in who they select this time around, although to be fair to whomever that may be they will undoubtedly do a better job than Chiarelli did. Although I suppose that isn't too hard given the fact that Chiarelli arguably traded away the team's best talents for peanuts. 

In an interesting twist however Johnston also mentioned that a high profile former members of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization could be a strong candidate for the Oilers job.

"Another strong candidate in Mark Hunter would be[available] and they still have not progressed with talks there." 

Hunter is of course the former assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and one who left the organization after he was unhappy that Kyle Dubas was selected as the new Maple Leafs general manager over him. Hunter is credited as the man who pushed for the Leafs to acquire Mitch Marner at the draft and that has obviously payed off big time for the Leafs organization. A notoriously strong scouter and developer of talent Hunter could be a strong fit for the Oilers and could potentially even bring a significant culture change to an organization desperately in need of one.