Ken Holland may not have a home in the hockey world as this season is just weeks away from kicking off, but that doesn’t mean the veteran with 38 years in NHL front offices is done with the game.
During Tuesday’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Darren Dreger detailed how Holland, who left his post as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers this summer, is “still motivated by the juice of the game.”
Gino Reda: Speaking of guys looking for new deals, after helping to lead the Oilers to the Cup final last season, Ken Holland and the Oilers mutually agreed to part ways, but we’ve never heard Holland actually use the word “retired.” What are you hearing about his future, Dregs?Dreger: Well, what we’re hearing here Gino is that he’s open to anything. You’re right, I think most of us thought that Kenny Holland may just fade into retirement, maybe take a consulting role or an advisory role, and he might be open to one of those positions on a short-term basis. He’s also open to not doing a whole heck of a lot other than playing golf over the course of this year. But let me tell you this, he still has tons of energy, and he still is motivated by the juice of the game, but it has to be the right fit. So I look at hockey operations bosses in Canada, like Jimmy Rutherford in Vancouver, what about Jeff Gorton of the Montreal Canadiens. I think Kenny Holland would be keenly interested in a job like that. Maybe another GM opportunity. But at his age, it can’t be a rebuild. But he wants to work again.
Holland got his start in hockey as a player, tending the net in the WCHL and later the AHL for eight years, where he would play 343 games, getting four in the NHL. He transitioned to the front office of the Detroit Red Wings in 1984-85 as a scout for two seasons, before spending seven as their director of amateur scouting.
Promoted to assistant general manager in 1994, he would take the reigns of the general manager role in the Motor City in 1997, going on to win three Stanley Cups in that role helping the team maintain their status as one of the most competitive teams in the league.
He joined the Oilers as general manager in 2019, spending five years in the seat, helping build the team up to it’s first Stanley Cup Finals appearance last season since 2006.
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@thenationnetwork.com.
