Mention the name Daryl Katz around Edmonton, and the chances are you will be meet with a positive response, such has been his impact since purchasing the Oilers and becoming their owner back in 2008. Chief among the accomplishments for a man who is more than willing to splash the cash, as we wrote about last November, is seeing the franchise ascend to the seventh-highest value in the NHL at $2.4 billion USD, which converts to around $3.38 billion CAD.
However, it would be appear that folks aren't quite as enamoured with the Oilers owner as much as we thought, at least according to an NHL owner rankings article by The Athletic (subscription required). Authored by James Mirtle, Katz has only been ranked as the 22nd-best owner out of all 32 franchises in the NHL, which just seems shockingly low.
For context, The Athletic sent out a request to their readers several months ago asking them to complete a detailed owner survey, with nearly 4,000 responding (including representatives for all 32 NHL fan bases). This subsequently accounted for 50 percent of the final rankings on owner performance, with the other 50 percent coming from The Athletic's staff.
Now if we get the indisputable evidence out of the way first of all, this alone makes you question Katz being ranked so low. That's because since he has taken over the Oilers, they are ranked 16th in regular season wins and even better at 13th in playoff wins, albeit without achieving the ultimate goal of claiming a sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Where it starts to go wrong for Daryl Katz and the Oilers
However, when it comes to the subjectivity associated with individual opinions on Katz, this is where things start to look not as positive for him. And interestingly, it's the fans -- or at least those surveyed -- who have more issues with the Edmonton native as opposed to The Athletic, with a lower overall grade of the Oilers owner compared to the sports media outlet.
As we mentioned ourselves earlier, the fans surveyed rank Katz very well at fourth, in respect of his willingness to spend. However, other areas of the fan base evaluation are more damning, including ranking just 24th in treatment of the fan base and a lowly 28th in organisational stability.
In respect of the treatment of fans, The Athletic references many complaining about costs at the arena. This is interesting when you consider, for example, a survey we previously covered last November, which ranked the Oilers' 14th-cheapest in the NHL when it comes to a family of four attending a game in Edmonton.
At the same time however, you can't dismiss the fans' complaints outright, with an all inclusive cost of $448.75 USD -- which calculates to about $622.96 CAD -- not exactly representing a cheap night out. We will note though that the Oilers are not experiencing any downturn in attendance, with them seeing a 100 percent capacity through 33 home games in 2024-25 at Rogers Place, with an average of 18,347 people.
Lack of stability with the Oilers under Daryl Katz?
As for organizational stability, it's tough to argue with how the Oilers are perceived during Katz's tenure as owner. Consider that in his time in charge, the team has had 11 -- count that -- 11 head coaches and six general managers, with Keith Gretzky and Jeff Jackson also having spells as interim GMs.
If you want to play devil's advocate, we can suggest that at least Katz is willing to move on from his mistakes so willingly, as opposed to stubbornly sticking with his choices. Although we would add that in respect of how stability is viewed in Edmonton, it probably didn't help signing off on the controversial Stan Bowman becoming the latest GM.
The final aspect to consider, is the level of confidence in Katz from last year compared to this, with a majority of 51 percent staying the same. However, it is still somewhat damning that 38 percent -- ranked 23rd -- have less confidence in the owner in 2025, compared to just 11 percent -- ranked 22nd -- having more confidence.
Ultimately, the essence of all of this is that while those surveyed do appreciate and acknowledge Katz's willingness to invest in the Oilers, it doesn't take away from the perception that he makes a lot of bad decisions. With this in mind perhaps his ranking of just 22nd among all owners shouldn't be such a surprise, although we will contend he was still judged slightly harshly in the grand scheme of things.
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