By Canadian Press

Edmonton Oilers name Ken Holland as general manager and president of hockey ops

May 7, 2019 | 10:03 AM

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have officially named Ken Holland as their new general manager and president of hockey operations.

The Oilers introduced Holland at a press conference Tuesday at Rogers Place, confirming earlier media reports that Holland was set to take over the struggling team from interim GM Keith Gretzky.

One of Holland’s first duties will be finding a new head coach. Holland announced that Ken Hitchcock will not be back behind the Oilers bench next season.

Hitchcock took over on an interim basis after the Oilers fired head coach Todd McLellan in November.

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Edmonton has made the playoffs just once since advancing to the Stanley Cup final in 2006, and the Oilers hope Holland is the GM who can finally build a contender around superstar captain Connor McDavid.

Holland certainly has the pedigree to do so, leading the Detroit Red Wings to 25 straight playoff appearances and four Stanley Cup titles. 

But after years of success, the Red Wings have missed the playoffs the last three seasons and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the three campaigns before that.

The Red Wings promoted Holland to senior vice president in April after hiring Steve Yzerman as general manager, but Holland will get to remain in a more hands-on position with the move to Edmonton.

The Canadian Press