This afternoon, the NHL announced a new addition to its Hockey Operations Department: Longtime Red Wings GM Ken Holland, who joins the league office in a consulting role.
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“We are delighted to welcome Ken to NHL Hockey Operations, where he will provide invaluable insight from his decades in the game as a player, scout and executive. He offers unmatched expertise in a wide range of areas,” NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said in the press release announcing the move.
Holland, of course, served as Red Wings general manager from the 1997-1998 season through the 2018-19 campaign, when he was replaced by Steve Yzerman, who got his start as an executive in the Detroit front office under Holland before taking his first GM job with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Holland went on to GM of the Edmonton Oilers between 2019 and 2024, during which time he helped Edmonton reach two Western Conference Finals and last year’s Stanley Cup Final, before Holland and the Oilers agreed to mutually part ways.
Holland’s reputation in Detroit is a mixed one, and that might be putting it generously. He won three Stanley Cups as GM (1998, 2002, and 2008), while also serving as an assistant GM for the 1997 Stanley Cup team. However, many Red Wings fans look back sourly on his tenure because of the staleness of its final years, with many frustrated by Holland’s inability to replace a generation of Hall of Famers in the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and, of course, Yzerman himself.
The press release announcing Holland’s hiring did not provide any clarity as to what sort of consulting he will be up to for the league.
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