from David Staples of the Edmonton Journal,

There’s a large group of vocal critics who contend that Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland blew it this summer. For the first time in his career as Oilers GM, Holland had plenty of cap space to play with, but he made a number of ill-advised moves, this group says.

But when it comes to the NHL oddsmakers, they cast a friendly eye on the chances of the Oilers making the playoffs for a third straight season, which would amount to every year Holland has been Edmonton’s GM.

SportsBetting.ag, for example, gives the Oilers a 76 per cent chance of doing so and predicts 97.5 regular season points for the team. Only seven other NHL teams are predicted to get more points than the Oilers. That would put Edmonton at the bottom of elite NHL squads, but still in that group.

Nonetheless, Holland is getting heat, most recently from Dom Luszczyszyn, national NHL reporter for The Athletic, who blasted Oilers management for “squandering” the talent of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Luszczyszyn was not impressed with Holland’s work this summer, writing: “The team’s signing of Zach Hyman was a strong one from a bottom line perspective as it does make the team better, but it’s an inherently risky one considering his age, play style and injury history. The term could be a disaster. And that was arguably the team’s best move. Edmonton traded actual assets for the ghost of Duncan Keith, signed Cody Ceci to dollars and term he isn’t worthy of, retained Tyson Barrie despite defensive deficiencies and ponied up a ridiculous amount of money to Darnell Nurse after a career season he is unlikely to repeat.”

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