Oilers add NWHL founder Rylan Kearney to scouting staff
The Edmonton Oilers are bolstering up their scouting staff.
On Thursday, the Oilers announced that they’ve added Dani Rylan Kearney to their scouting staff as a regional scout. Known primarily through her work as the founder and first commissioner of the National Women’s Hockey League, the job is her first with an NHL team.
“We’re pleased to announce that Dani Rylan Kearney has been added to the Oilers hockey operations department as a regional scout,” the Oilers posted on X.
We're pleased to announce that Dani Rylan Kearney has been added to the #Oilers hockey operations department as a regional scout.
Dani played for @GoNUwhockey before founding & serving as commissioner of the National Women's Hockey League.
Welcome, @DaniRylan! đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/HlnlSZy5mX
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 12, 2023
A former university hockey player at Northeastern, Rylan Kearney founded the NWHL in 2015 and worked for the league until her resignation was announced in 2021.
Since her departure from the now-defunct NWHL, Rylan Kearney has also worked in executive consulting and youth hockey roles. In an interview with The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian in March 2023, Rylan Kearney said that her resignation from the league — after transitioning to president from the commissioner’s seat in 2020 — was not her choice.
“I was completely caught off guard when the idea of me stepping down as commissioner was presented,” Rylan told Salvian. “I was able to reason, I was able to think about the greater good, even though I was obviously hurt by the idea of stepping down and taking a lesser role. And stepping away completely was just like a gut punch. I was stepping away from something that was my everything.”
The NWHL rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation in October 2021, before it was shut down earlier this year to make way for the formation of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which starts its inaugural season in January 2024 in six North American cities.
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