from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

How much pressure is there on the Edmonton Oilers organization to get this general manager hire right?

Well, consider the $2 to 3 million home gates that pass by each spring, with the Oilers on the outside of the playoffs looking in for the fourth time in CEO Bob Nicholson’s five years with the team.

Nicholson has his candidates for GM — a list that includes Kelly McCrimmon, Mark Hunter, Ken Holland, Keith Gretzky and Sean Burke — and don’t believe what you hear about the team going into the upcoming draft without filling the position.

“Are you kidding? That’s where [the new GM] is going to have to get all his work done,” an Eastern exec said Sunday.

It would be a grave mistake not to have the new GM in place in time for the draft, and there’s no reason for it.

It’s not even May 1 and the interviews are concluded — or at least well along in the process. The draft goes in Vancouver on June 21. Unless the new hire is forbidden by his old organization from making the move before draft day — which is almost unheard of — the Oilers need him in place to make a dent in their cap woes come June, so they can go after a couple of mid-range free agents in July.

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