Edmonton Oilers hire Duncan Keith to player development role, announce other front office moves
By Zach Laing
1 year agoIt’s a busy morning in Edmonton as the Oilers announced a number of front-office moves headlines by the addition of Duncan Keith.
The club announced Friday that Keith would join the team in a player development role. Keith retired this past summer after a 17-year career and spent his last year with the Oilers.
According to the team, Keith will visit with Oilers prospects at the junior level and spend time with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
The club also made official the hiring of Milan Tucky as the Oilers’ director of amateur European scouting. I wrote about his appointment last month.
Edmonton hired two new pro scouts: Warren Rychel and Jason Pietrzykowski. Rychel played eight seasons and 406 games in the NHL with the LA Kings, Colorado Avalanche, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
He retired in 1999 and spent six years between 2000-01 and 2005-06 as a pro scout with the Phoenix Coyotes. Rychel bought the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires in 2005-06 and held roles as vice-president of hockey operations and general manager until 2019-20. Rychel spent the 2019-20 season behind the bench with the Barrie Colts.
Pietrzykowski, meanwhile, never played professional hockey but spent the 2019-20 season with the Oilers as an assistant video coach. He joined the Sweden U20 team as a video coach over the last few years, and now joins the Oilers again.
Jeff Salajko, who had a long career playing pro hockey as a netminder, has been hired as a dedicated goaltending scout. He spent some time as an assistant coach at Ohio State University between 2008-09 and 2010-11 and again in 2012-13, before joining the Detroit Red Wings organization.
Between 2013-14 and 2015-16, he was the goaltending coach for the Grand Rapid Griffins, before being named to the same role with the Red Wings from 2016-17 to this year.
The Oilers hired Christian Vermette as an amateur scout. He spent the 2012-13 and 2013-14 season with the OMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs as a head scout. Between 2014-15 and this year, he was an assistant coach with the Quebec Remparts.
A number of other moves were made:
- Katie Doyle, who worked as the Oilers’ team manager, was promoted to director of team services and hockey operations.
- Tina Johnson was hired as a nutrition consultant.
- Tania Kenny, who spent the last two years with Hockey Canada as a team manager, joins the Oilers as an executive assistant in hockey operations.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
THE SEASON LAUNCH PARTY
For the first time in three seasons, we’re throwing a Season Launch Party at SOHO and you’re all invited to join us! What’s going on? I’m glad you asked.
- Date: Saturday, October 15th, 2022
- When: 5:00pm
- Location: SOHO YEG (11454 Jasper Ave)
- What’s Included: Entry to the event, Swag Bag (complete with w-shirt, stickers, GCs), entry to the giveaways, after party with RIFF/RAFF
- How: GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
As always, we will also be including a charity component with the event where a portion of all ticket sales will be donated directly to Sport Central to help with their mission of providing equipment and bicycles to children in need.
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