The Edmonton Oilers have hired Andy Salggert as their Director of North American Recruiting, the team announced Saturday.

Slaggert, 58, has spent the last 32 years with the NCAA’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish, serving as an assistant coach between 1992 and 2017, and working as their associate coach since 2018. His long resume of work with the Irish show how valued he has been in their organization, with his profile on the team website calling him “One of the nation’s top recruiters.”

It also has a testimonial from Irish head coach Jeff Jackson from when Slaggert was promoted.

“He is the best recruiter for Notre Dame,” he said. “Andy is also extremely important to our players, from the time they are introduced to Notre Dame to long after they become alumni. He is more than a hockey coach to our young men, he’s a life coach to them. Andy has been immensely loyal to Notre Dame and the Irish hockey family.”

During his three decades at Notre Dame, 70 of their players were selected in the NHL draft, including first-round picks Ian Cole, Kyle Palmieri, and Riley Sheahan. In 2019-20, 16 former Irish players skated in the NHL, and last season, the number was 11. Slaggert helped the team en route to three CCHA championships in 207, 2009 and 2013, as well as B1G championships in 2018 and 2019.

Slaggert and his wife, Tara, have three sons, Graham, Landon and Carter, all of whom are hockey players.

His hiring by the Oilers is a sign of how the team views talent acquisition. With the team going all-in every season with minimal high draft picks, the team has resorted to other means of bringing in young players. It’s evidenced through the Oilers’ signing of college free agents like Quinn Hutson and Damien Carfagna, as well as the team dipping into European free agency, signing players like David Tomášek, Josh Samanski and Arto Leppänen.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.