logo
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Around the NHL: Oilers hire Stan Bowman as GM
alt
Photo credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Jul 26, 2024, 08:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 26, 2024, 08:23 EDT
Comments
There are just 69 more days until opening day.
Guess what, the Edmonton Oilers made another controversial decision, the Flyers re-signed a core player, and a second-overall pick could be on the move.
Let’s dig into all of that in the latest Around the NHL!

Oilers hire Stan Bowman as general manager

Content note: This section deals with sexual assault.
On Wednesday morning, the Oilers made another questionable decision and hired Stan Bowman as their new general manager. Where to begin with this one?
Bowman was hired as the general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks in the summer of 2009, winning three Stanley Cups with the team before his resignation in the autumn of 2021. Why? Well, it was uncovered that he, along with Joel Quenneville, Al MacIsaac, and John McDonough failed to report a prolonged case of sexual assault by the team’s video coach, Brad Aldrich, to the police and the team’s human resources department back in 2010.
This occurred during the Blackhawks’ first run to the Stanley Cup back in 2010, and on May 13, 2021, former Blackhawk Kyle Beach filed a lawsuit against the team, leading to Bowman resigning on Oct. 26, 2021.
Bowman, along with Quenneville and MacIsaac were reinstated by the league on July 1 of this year, with the Oilers hiring Bowman just over three weeks later. Our colleagues at Oilersnation.com covered the controversial signing in depth.

Flyers re-sign Travis Konecny

On Thursday, it was reported by Travis Sanheim, yes, the Philadelphia Flyers’ defenceman, that Flyers’ star player Travis Konecny re-signed with the team.
It was later reported by numerous sources that Konecny signed an eight-year extension worth $70 million, or $8.75 million annually. The contract also comes with a full no-move clause for the first six years, before switching to a modified no-trade clause for the final two seasons of the deal.
Konecny was drafted by the Flyers with the 24th-overall pick in the 2015 draft. Last season was a career-best for the 27-year-old right wing, as he scored 33 goals and 68 points. For his career, Konecny has scored 174 goals and 400 points in 564 games. 
His career-year nearly helped the Flyers, who were rebuilding in 2023-24, make the post-season for the first since the 2020 playoffs. However, they faltered towards the end of the season and ended up missing the postseason by four points. Not all that bad considering the team was seen as mediocre at best.

Blue Jackets want picks and prospects for Patrik Laine

Last week, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline joined Montréal 690 (and put a price on what it’d cost to land Patrik Laine, who requested a trade in mid-June. Portzline believes any team trying to acquire the 26-year-old will need to give up draft picks and prospects, given where the Columbus Blue Jackets are in their rebuild (2:47 mark).
Laine was selected with the second-overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Winnipeg Jets, spending parts of five seasons with the team, scoring 140 goals and 250 points in 306 games. This included a career-best year in 2017-18 where he scored 44 goals and 70 points in 82 games.
However, he was traded to the Blue Jackets at the beginning of the 2020-21 season for Pierre-Luc Dubois, and has spent four seasons with the Jackets where he has 64 goals and 138 points in 174 games.
In late January, Laine entered the Player Assistance Program and hasn’t played a game since Dec. 14, 2023. Hockey aside, hopefully he is doing better now.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

Editorials

Breaking News