Oilers Ken Holland Has Oil Country Thinking Stanley Cup

You can agree or disagree with the decisions Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland has made over the years, but you can never question his commitment to the team. It’s been a positive offseason for Holland, and as main training camp gets ready to open for the Oilers’ 2022-23 season, you have to have a lot of optimism and dreams of contending for a Stanley Cup if you’re an Oilers fan.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t more work to be done, because the Oilers are dangerously close to the salary cap, and still have key players such as Ryan McLeod to sign. And with the current situation with the cap, the Oilers are most likely to start the season with a 21-man roster, which is a real risk. With all that in mind, the positives including the signing of goaltender Jack Campbell and forward Evander Kane in the offseason have boosted the optimism in the Alberta Capital to a level not seen in many years.

Does Holland Trade or Keep Jesse Puljujarvi? That is the Question

The sports talk shows in Edmonton and Oilers’ Twitter have been busy debating Holland’s handling of the much-loved Jesse Puljujarvi. “The Bison King” is a fan favourite and shows up well in analytic debates, however, he hasn’t seemed to fulfill the promise he showed when he was chosen MVP of the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championship. The Oilers selected the 6-foot-4 forward fourth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft after the Columbus Blue Jackets passed on him in favour of forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. Many that year thought the Oilers had their eye on Matthew Tkachuk, including Tkachuk himself, for the fourth overall spot.

Holland has his work cut out for him when it comes to Puljujarvi. Can the big forward gain the confidence to become the player everyone projected him to be, or will he be available for a trade and help the Oilers lower their salary cap by $3 million? It seems that going into camp Holland is willing to give it one more chance with Puljujarvi, and most fans in Oil Country are keeping their fingers crossed that the big forward will deliver this year. This is definitely one of the most interesting storylines the Oilers and Holland are facing going into the 2022-23 NHL season.

Holland’s Hard…