Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking All 32 NHL General Managers
By Jeff Borsuk
The 12th Ranked GM – Ken Holland (Edmonton Oilers)
In 1987, Ken Holland took the job of Director of Amateur Scouting with the Red Wings. He built a phenomenal career there, building his way up to become their general manager. Holland even won the Stanley Cup four times in Detroit. When the team moved him into a different position, Holland left to join the Edmonton Oilers. He’s been their GM since May of 2019.
The Good – While he hasn’t had a lot of time in Edmonton, Holland has already made some strong decisions. His first trade was actually a big one. He unloaded Milan Lucic and his $6M cap hit in exchange for James Neal.
Holland recently extended an important player to a very team friendly contract. He signed the former first-overall draft pick, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, for the next eight seasons. The contract is worth $41M and carries a $5,125M AAV.
The Bad – In January of 2020, Holland overpaid for Zach Kassian. One must wonder what the UFA’s other offers were before he signed in Edmonton for four years and $12.8M. The 30 year old now has three year left on that deal with an average cap hit of $3.2M. After the first year on that contract, Kassian played 27 games and only recorded two goals and three assists.
The Ugly – In 2019, in a move to clear cap space, Holland bought out Andrej Sekera. The move didn’t save the club a fortune, but allowed for more cap flexibility. Buyouts are always ugly but Sekera was snapped up quickly by the Stars. He was an important blueliner for the team in his first year in Dallas, playing an average of 18 minutes per game. That did drop off this past season but Sekera still brought value to his club.