Ken Holland will be back with the Oilers in 2024-25 if he wants to

With the season finally over for the Edmonton Oilers, there will be no time to stop and rest. Within less than a week, they have both the 2024 NHL entry draft and the beginning of free agency to deal with.

The Oilers have six picks for this year's draft as things stand, albeit only one (64th overall) in the first four rounds. As for free agency, they face an ominous list of 10 unrestricted and two restricted players to deal with.

The question is, who will be in charge of dealing with all of this? Well, one person you can cross off the list is Ken Holland who, after months of speculation, will apparently not be back as the Oilers' general manager next season.

A time of contemplation for Holland

However, this doesn't mean Holland is done with the organisation full stop, at least according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Dreger reports that there is another role on offer for the 68-year-old to remain in Edmonton, if he wants it.

Certainly Holland has a lot to think about, after a turbulent final campaign as general manager in Edmonton. As we recently wrote, if the season had ended with the Oilers winning the Stanley Cup, he would have been in a position of power to walk away and retire, or perhaps even ask for an extension to remain as general manager.

Instead, the decision has seemingly already been made for the Oilers to now find someone different and -- with all due respect to Holland -- younger. For him, it's just a case of deciding whether or not he wants to stick around.

Could Holland end up with another NHL team?

You imagine it will in part depend on what role is being offered to the 2020 Hall of Famer inductee. Also, what else is out there; as Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman recently said on 32 Thoughts, there is a potential opening with the Columbus Blue Jackets which could be considered.

In this respect, Dreger did add that the situation will be clarified within the next few days. No matter what Holland does decide though, he won't be in Las Vegas to help the Oilers with the draft.

Not that the former NHL goaltender will be leaving the organisation in the lurch. The Oilers will more than likely rely on their trio of assistant general managers, Keith Gretzky, Bill Scott and Brad Holland.

Holland has received plenty of criticism during his time in Edmonton, with the naysayers claiming he never did enough to surround the game's best player with a roster that could help him win it all. For what it's worth though, he did take the Oilers to the playoffs in all five of his seasons as general manager, with them coming oh so close to finally claiming the Holy Grail this year.

You have to wonder if Holland was tempted, or indeed asked if he could sign another deal to come back as general manager and finish the task at hand? Regardless, he gets to leave the position with his head held high, after giving the organisation their most consistent run of success in two decades.

Recent Posts