Oilers might consider Mark Hunter to be next GM: report
The Edmonton Oilers might be in the market for a new GM at the end of the season, and another name has entered the fray.
Current Oilers GM Ken Holland’s contract is up at the end of this season and there have been rumours that the 68-year-old might be leaning towards retirement. If that is the case, the team would have to act quickly to find a replacement to manage the team in what could be a franchise-altering few seasons, with both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl coming to the end of their current deals.
Player agent Dave Gagner, the father of Oilers forward Sam Gagner, was named as a potential candidate earlier this season, but that was shot down by Dave himself. There are now rumblings from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek that the OHL’s London Knights owner and GM Mark Hunter could be a guy the Oilers consider for the job.
Marek pointed this out in an edition of his “Rink Fries” column over the weekend.
“I also wonder about [Hunter] and the Oilers if this is Ken Holland’s last season running the team,” wrote Marek. “Oilers CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson has always been a fan of Hunter as he always was of Kris Knoblauch and we all know how that played out.”
Friedman commented on that part of Marek’s column on the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast.
“I do think that Ken Holland’s future in Edmonton could tie into Mark Hunter’s future in the NHL,” said Friedman.
Though Hunter is currently working in the OHL, he does carry a pretty extensive history in the NHL. He played over 600 NHL games between 1981 and 1993 with the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Hartford Whalers and Washington Capitals.
Mark is also the brother of Dave Hunter, who played parts of 10 seasons with the Oilers in the 1980s.
After his playing career, Hunter served as a head coach in the OHL for both the Sarnia Sting and the London Knights as well as with the now-defunct St. John’s Maple Leafs in the AHL.
He became the director of player personnel for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014 and was later named an assistant GM in 2015. In 2018, Hunter and the Leafs mutually decided to terminate his contract after Kyle Dubas was named the team’s new GM. He then returned to the Knights, where has been ever since.
The Oilers aren’t the only team expected to be interested in Hunter as their next GM. Both Friedman and Marek pointed out that the Columbus Blue Jackets, fresh off firing longtime GM Jarmo Kekäläinen, could try to hire the 61-year-old before the Oilers have a chance.
Only time will tell if Hunter is not only still available at season’s end, but if he is indeed the guy that will step into the Oilers’ GM chair.