Mark Hunter becoming next Oilers GM a real possibility: report
The Edmonton Oilers are set to begin their 2024 playoff run tomorrow night, but a new report is focused on what the team is set to do in the offseason.
After the playoffs come and go, the Oilers are expected to be in the market for a new GM as Ken Holland’s contract with the club is coming to an end. There is always the possibility that the Oilers renew with Holland but, at 68-year-old, retirement is on the table for the veteran executive.
With that, it appears the team has already done at least some preliminary searching for Holland’s successor. One name that keeps coming up is former Toronto Maple Leafs AGM Mark Hunter.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has connected Hunter to the Oilers before and he did it again recently in the latest written edition of his 32 Thoughts column. He also connected the 61-year-old OHL executive to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“The Mark Hunter rumours won’t go away (in Columbus), although he’s also a possible Ken Holland successor in Northern Alberta,” Friedman wrote.
The Jackets have the inside track on Hunter if they want to hire him. Edmonton is hoping to be preoccupied for the next month or so as they embark on another run for the Stanley Cup. Bringing Hunter aboard during a playoff run would be one of the last things on their mind.
Columbus, on the other hand, can bring him into the fold tomorrow if they want as it wouldn’t interrupt the team at all. The decision will lay with where Hunter wants to go.
Hunter appeared in 628 NHL games between 1981 and 1993. After retiring he jumped into coaching, spending the majority of his time behind the bench of the OHL’s London Knights, where he also became co-owner.
He joined the Leafs’ front office in 2014 where he worked his way up to AGM. Hunter and the Leafs mutually parted ways in 2018 and he returned to his role with the Knights. Reports throughout the season have indicated that Hunter will be returning to the NHL for this upcoming season.
Some threads connect the executive to Edmonton. His brother, Dave Hunter, played 11 seasons with the Oilers in the 80s and the team mascot, a fierce lynx, is named Hunter, which is a bit too coincidental.
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