ESPN Targeting Wayne Gretzky For Broadcasting Role

ESPN is taking some big swings when it comes to landing personalities to be on their broadcast team once their new coverage of the NHL begins. After landing a huge television rights deal with the NHL, the network is looking to add some household and Hall of Fame worthy names to their team. Among them is Wayne Gretzky.

Aaaron Portzline of The Athletic writes:

ESPN has approached and pitched Wayne Gretzky about a broadcasting role, according to multiple sources. Whether Gretzky, an alternate governor for the Edmonton Oilers, is interested is unknown, but at this point ESPN hasn’t been given a “no.”

This comes after news that Kenny Albert is going to be the voice of the Stanley Cup Final for Turner, the New York Post reported Wednesday. and Turner is also reportedly making Eddie Olczyk its lead hockey analyst, as first reported by AZ Coyotes Insider’s Craig Morgan on Wednesday. It’s reportedly a five-year deal that would also give Olczyk the freedom to keep working for NBC on horse racing events.

It is also expected that Ray Ferraro will join ESPN as an on-air talent pool, potentially as a lead analyst. Speculation is that he would get a sizeable bump in salary to make moving to the United States much easier.

Portzline also reports that both Turner Sports and ESPN have shown interest in hiring Kevin Weekes. Weekes has quickly risen through the ranks as a strong inside source for breaking hockey stories and the former NHLer has also pursued NHL management opportunities. 

Would Gretzky Be a Good Analyst?

Gretzky was the game’s greatest player, but would be a good analyst? As one comments pointed out, it was a good group of names that ESPN was looking at but “I’ve never found Gretzky’s personality all that interesting. He’s a master at “hockey player speak”. Long bland statements full of vanilla words.”

There’s more to being a good television personality than being a big name. This isn’t to say that Gretzky can’t do it. There’s just something about seeing him in that role that doesn’t quite feel right.

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