<p>Stan Bowman has made his first front office hires in Edmonton, bringing in three new employees to the Oilers.</p>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/release-oilers-add-to-player-development-staff">team announced Wednesday morning</a> they hired Tobias Salmelainen in a player acquisition and development role in Europe, Andreas Karlsson as a player development coach and Vincent Malts as a mental performance and player development coach.</p>
<p>&#8220;I’m excited about the additions of Tobias, Andreas and Vincent,&#8221; Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement. &#8220;Player development is critical to our long-term success and this kind of investment is an important step.&#8221;</p>
<p>Salmelainen&#8217;s name may sound familiar as his brother, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/top-five-edmonton-oilers-in-season-trades-no-1-the-2005-06-trades">Tony</a>, was drafted by the Oilers in the second round of the 1999 draft, playing 13 NHL games for the team in 2003-04. He was later traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2006 for defenceman Jaroslav Spacek.</p>
<p>While Tony rounded out his playing days in Europe, now working for the Toronto Maple Leafs as an amateur scout, his brother Tobias has made a name for himself in the hockey world. Tobias played pro hockey in Finland for seven years, with a single year in Denmark sandwiched in. He transitioned to working in player representation between 2014 and 2017, before being hired as the general manager of HIFK in the Finnish Elite League.</p>
<p>Karlsson, meanwhile, enjoyed a long playing career in Sweden and North America, totalling 19 seasons that included 264 NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning. After retiring from playing after the 2010-11 season, he began coaching in Sweden, before spending two years with USports&#8217; York University as an assistant coach. Since the 2016-17 season, he&#8217;s worked as an assistant coach with the Ontario Hockey League&#8217;s Kitchener Rangers and most recently, the Hamilton/Brantford Bulldogs, winning the league championship in 2022.</p>
<p>Malts played in the ECHL and UHL in the early 2000&#8217;s, later transitioning to front office roles in 2011, working as a scout for the QMJHL&#8217;s Victoriaville Tigres, holding the role through 2016-17. In 2019-20, he was hired by the ECHL&#8217;s Indy Fuel as a mental coach, holding the role for two years, before doing the same with the NAHL&#8217;s Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks.</p>
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<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400">, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.</span></i></p>
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Stan Bowman has made his first front office hires in Edmonton, bringing in three new employees to the Oilers.


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The <a href="https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/release-oilers-add-to-player-development-staff">team announced Wednesday morning</a> they hired Tobias Salmelainen in a player acquisition and development role in Europe, Andreas Karlsson as a player development coach and Vincent Malts as a mental performance and player development coach.

"I’m excited about the additions of Tobias, Andreas and Vincent," Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement. "Player development is critical to our long-term success and this kind of investment is an important step."

Salmelainen's name may sound familiar as his brother, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/top-five-edmonton-oilers-in-season-trades-no-1-the-2005-06-trades">Tony</a>, was drafted by the Oilers in the second round of the 1999 draft, playing 13 NHL games for the team in 2003-04. He was later traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2006 for defenceman Jaroslav Spacek.

While Tony rounded out his playing days in Europe, now working for the Toronto Maple Leafs as an amateur scout, his brother Tobias has made a name for himself in the hockey world. Tobias played pro hockey in Finland for seven years, with a single year in Denmark sandwiched in. He transitioned to working in player representation between 2014 and 2017, before being hired as the general manager of HIFK in the Finnish Elite League.

Karlsson, meanwhile, enjoyed a long playing career in Sweden and North America, totalling 19 seasons that included 264 NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning. After retiring from playing after the 2010-11 season, he began coaching in Sweden, before spending two years with USports' York University as an assistant coach. Since the 2016-17 season, he's worked as an assistant coach with the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers and most recently, the Hamilton/Brantford Bulldogs, winning the league championship in 2022.

Malts played in the ECHL and UHL in the early 2000's, later transitioning to front office roles in 2011, working as a scout for the QMJHL's Victoriaville Tigres, holding the role through 2016-17. In 2019-20, he was hired by the ECHL's Indy Fuel as a mental coach, holding the role for two years, before doing the same with the NAHL's Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks.

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<i><span style="font-weight: 400">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400">, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.</span></i>

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