Edmonton Oilers – Assistant General Manager
In 2016 Peter Chiarelli brought his former co-worker from Boston over to be his new right-hand man in Edmonton. I think it’s pretty safe to say that’s not a move Chiarelli makes if he and Keith weren’t on the same page on many of the decisions made in Boston.
So right off the bat, there have to be some red flags surrounding the possibility of replacing Chiarelli with another like-minded GM. Which would get you pretty far in 2011, but as we all know it’s a completely new league now.
He has only been here since 2016, so I’m not going to go into any analysis of his drafting with the Oilers, but I will say that the pipeline has looked a lot better than it has in years, but it’s obviously still too early to tell if those picks will pan out or not.
Bakersfield is also in the middle of one of the most successful seasons in franchise history, which could also have some links to the work of Keith Gretzky since joining the Oilers organization. And is something that could give him some legitimate leverage for being considered a serious candidate for the GM position.
One thing, in particular, that should be made of concern is the Ryan Spooner trade. One of the reasons I felt this trade might actually be a successful one for the Oilers is that Spooner spent a significant amount of time playing for the Bruins while Keith Gretzky was working there.
So he obviously has seen him play probably more than anyone in the Oilers organization and his opinion on the player would have been instrumental in bringing him to Edmonton. Another sign that his ability to identify talent may not be as great as what he gets credit for.