Oilers make an official announcement on Ken Hitchcock’s future

Earlier today, Edmonton Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson and interim general manager Keith Gretzky met with the Edmonton media during locker room clean out to address some pressing questions.

Obviously there’s a lot of “crap to be figured out” in the words of Oilers captain Connor McDavid, but perhaps the biggest question facing this team is… “What happens to Ken Hitchcock?” The legendary head coach, of course, was tabbed by former GM Peter Chiarelli midseason to help the Oilers get back in the playoff picture… a goal that obviously was not met. 

So, what happens with Hitch now? Is he back next season? Or, do the Oilers, presumably under a new GM, go another route? Nicholson himself addressed the Hitchcock situation:

Just one question, Bob… were you sure to run this by Kevin Lowe? 

All snarkiness aside, Hitchcock has a measurably positive impact on the Oilers. Whether or not he's the long-term solution behind the bench in Edmonton though is another question. It looks as if the Oilers will focus on the task at hand, which is finding a new general manager, before they make any concrete decisions on Hitchcock's future.