Stan Bowman hired as GM and executive VP of hockey operations of Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers have announced that Stan Bowman has been hired as the team’s general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations.

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported on July 1 that Bowman was the top contender for the role after Ken Holland’s departure, just days after the Florida Panthers lost the Stanley Cup Final.

This is Bowman’s first NHL job since stepping down as both GM of the Chicago Blackhawks and the USA men’s Olympic hockey team in October of 2021. The moves came in response of the investigation into allegations of sexual assault committed by former video coach member Brad Aldrich on player Kyle Beach during the 2010 Stanley Cup run.

Bowman, alongside coach Joel Quenneville and executive Al MacIsaac have all been out of the league since 2021. Quenneville stepped down as head coach of the Florida Panthers early that season, but he, like Bowman and MacIsaac, are eligible to return to the NHL.

“While it is clear that, at the time, their responses were unacceptable, each of these three individuals (Messrs. Bowman, MacIsaac and Quenneville) has acknowledged that and used his time away from the game to engage in activities which, not only demonstrates sincere remorse for what happened, but also evidence greater awareness of the responsibilities that all NHL personnel have, particularly personnel who are in positions of leadership,” a league release said on July 1.

The son of famous NHL coach Scotty Bowman, Stan took over as Blackhawks GM in 2009 after spending three years as a special assistant to Dale Tallon. With Bowman leading the way, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010 – the club’s first since 1961.

With a cap crunch forcing Bowman to make some crucial moves in the following years, he managed to rebuild the team, leading to another Stanley Cup victory against Boston in 2013. Two years later, the club won it’s third and most recent trophy after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning, capping off the best stretch by any team in the salary cap era at the time.

Since Holland’s departure, Jeff Jackson has served as the team’s interim GM. Of note, the team acquired Matthew Savoie from the Buffalo Sabres and also signed Jeff Skinner, Troy Stecher, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Collin Delia, Corey Perry, Josh Brown and Viktor Arvidsson to new deals.