Rumors of Ken Holland leaving Oilers bubble up during WCF.
There is talk that the Oilers general manager already has one foot out the door in Edmonton.
The Edmonton Oilers are currently duking it out with the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final and you would like to believe that everyone in the Oilers organization is laser focused on the biggest goal of them all in the sport of hockey, winning the Stanley Cup.
While that is most likely indeed the case, rumors have begun to bubble up this week suggesting that the man currently occupying the general manager's chair in Edmonton may already have one foot out the door. Those rumors suggest that general manager Ken Holland could be set to leave the Oilers in a bid to join a rival team in the National Hockey League.
Rumors suggest that Holland is set to join former Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell who, according to some very solid rumors, is set to become the new top executive in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman confirmed on his most recent podcast that the rumor is indeed out there. Friedman wouldn't go so far as to confirm just how concrete those rumors are, but he didn't shy away from the fact that it is being rumored behind the scenes.
"It seems weird to me that that would be a duo but that rumor is definitely out there," admitted Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast on Monday.
Why though would Holland leave the Edmonton Oilers, a team having a ton of success, in favor of going to the Columbus Blue Jackets who finished near the bottom of the NHL this year?
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun may have the answer:
If it happens, Waddell and Holland would be in senior hockey positions and Brad Holland would be learning the GM’s job alongside two experienced successful mentors.
Brad Holland is the son of Ken Holland and you can easily see how such a great opportunity for his son to learn the business would be attractive to Holland, or any father for that matter. Add to that the fact that Waddell and Holland won a Stanley Cup together as members of the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings and suddenly it starts to make a lot more sense.
Whether or not it will come to pass still remains to be seen, but where there is this much smoke one can often find fire.
