Mark Hunter: The Next Oilers GM?

Ken Holland, the current general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, is leaning towards retirement at the end of the 2023/2024 season. This is not news, it was a thing we learned about last season. Who his replacement could be is the question we ponder.

Elliotte Friedman spoke about this on the 32 Thoughts podcast, the name he brought up was Mark Hunter. Hunter does have a history with the province of Alberta, winning a Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames during his playing career. He was actually interviewed for the GM job twice in 2019 before they eventually settled on Holland.

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Hunter’s post-playing career has been highlighted more in the Ontario Hockey League. He coached the Sarnia Sting in 1994/1995 and 1995/1996. Then, after a coaching stint with the St. John’s Maple Leafs in 1996/1997, he went back to coach in Sarnia for seasons 1997/1998, 1998/1999, and 1999/2000. He co-owned the OHL’s London Knights with his brother Dale. After Dale moved to coach the Washington Capitals in the NHL, Mark coached the Knights to a J. Ross Robertson Cup title.

He was hired at the beginning of the 2014/2015 NHL season as director of player personnel for the Toronto Maple Leafs and then worked as a co-assistant GM alongside Kyle Dubas under then Leafs GM Lou Lamoirello. When Lamoriello left Toronto to take over the GM job with the New York Islanders, it was believed that Hunter would be named the new Leafs GM. But after that position was given to Dubas, he went back to being the GM of the London Knights and has stayed there since.

Hunter had a pretty respectable draft record with the Maple Leafs during his time with them. His most notable selections were Mitch Marner(4th overall in 2015), Travis Dermott(34th overall in 2015), Auston Matthew(1st overall in 2016), Carl Grundstrom(57th overall in 2016) and Joseph Woll(62nd overall in 2016).

I don’t despise Holland’s time with the Oilers, I actually feel he’s over-hated by half the Oilers fan base. But I also admit that I haven’t been ecstatic about his draft selections since he took over. Of course, a lot of them are still too early to tell, but Philip Broberg(8th overall in 2019), Dylan Holloway(14th overall in 2020), and Xavier Bourgault(22nd overall in 2021) have taken a while to make a huge impact for the organization, whether they be in the NHL or AHL. Holloway is the closest out of the three and is solid at what he does, but I feel that slightly more was expected of him. In Hunter’s case, anybody can have a team finish low in the standings to draft both Marner and Matthews. But should he be hired as the next Oilers GM, perhaps his OHL resume can benefit a franchise needing to retool it’s work on the draft floor.

Would you agree with hiring Mark Hunter? Would you not? Let me know.