Oilers Amateur Scouting Shift: Fire Tyler Wright, Hire Rick Pracey

The Edmonton Oilers have undergone changes in their scouting department. On Tuesday, the team announced the appointment of Rick Pracey as the Director of Amateur Scouting. Concurrently, the Oilers revealed their mutual parting of ways with Tyler Wright.  Wright, 50, came over to Edmonton in July 2019 along with Ken Holland after working alongside Holland with the Detroit Red Wings for six seasons.

The #Oilers have mutually parted ways with Tyler Wright & announced Rick Pracey as their new Director of Amateur Scouting. https://t.co/uwr7XnloMW

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) August 22, 2023

Bringing a wealth of scouting experience spanning two decades, Rick Pracey steps into his new role with the Oilers. His most recent tenure was as an amateur scout with the Philadelphia Flyers since 2014. Previously, Pracey spent 13 years with the Colorado Avalanche, with six of those years (2008-2014) dedicated to his role as the Director of Amateur Scouting. Notably, he played a pivotal role in selecting talents like Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O’Reilly, and Tyson Barrie during his time with the Avalanche.

Meanwhile, there were questions in Edmonton about what changes might be coming as Jeff Jackson takes over as CEO of Hockey Operations. The assumption was that he might move some pieces around, potentially bringing in some of his own connections to better the Oilers’ scouting, something he noted was going to be a mandate under his direction. The drafting performance under new GM Ken Holland has been a topic of discussion and with Tyler Wright at the helm, it makes sense that he would be the first major casualty.

Wright’s time as the Director of Amateur Scouting spanned from 2020 to 2023. Under Wright’s leadership, some of his selections include Dylan Holloway (14th overall, 2020), Carter Savoie (100th, 2020), Xavier Bourgault (22nd, 2021), and Reid Schaefer (32nd, 2022), among others.

The Oilers Wanted New Leadership In A Position of Importance

Securing the future with the right picks as the Oilers are in their current window to win is critical to the team’s long-term success. They don’t always get the best selections when they’re a competitive team, so finding winners in the later selections is of paramount importance.

The addition of Rick Pracey to the scouting team introduces his seasoned expertise to the Oilers organization. The changes in leadership underscore the team’s commitment to optimizing its scouting and draft strategy for future success.

It’s hard to judge Wright’s work fairly considering the Oilers didn’t make many high draft selections as Holland traded many of them away.

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