The Edmonton Oilers are making significant moves to prioritize data, analytics, and cap management under CEO Jeff Jackson. With the recent hiring of Stan Bowman as General Manager, Jackson and Bowman are reshaping the front office and organizational roles of the team, focusing on development and analytical experts to help shape their next big decisions.
Last year, the Oilers took a crucial step by appointing Michael Parkatti as Senior Director of Data and Analytics. He previously worked for Suncor Energy in Calgary as the Manager of Advanced Analytics. In other words, this is a numbers guy. He helped develop some of the universal measurements NHL teams now use related to expected goals.
This offseason, the Oilers are diving in even more. They hired Dominik Zrim as Director of Hockey Strategy. Zrim, a co-founder of the popular CapFriendly website, brings over 20 years of experience as a systems analyst. His expertise, combined with Parkatti’s, positions the Oilers among the league’s top analytical teams.
The Oilers Had Little Choice But To Shift Their Focus
The Oilers, for many years, were considered a team that moved slowly on this type of data analysis. These new moves show a priority towards not only catching up but also moving ahead as a potential leader in the field. Frankly, the Oilers don’t have much choice. As a team with elite-level talent that is going to include the two highest-paid players in the league, Edmonton has to find an effective way to build around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and it can’t just be by spending money.
This is where someone like David Evanochko becomes critically important. He has been appointed as Lead Solutions Architect within the data and analytics group. His role will focus on developing data-driven solutions to support decision-making in hockey operations. The idea is to better navigate the salary cap effectively, which is something Edmonton will need to get extremely good at.
Oilers Have Also Added More Scouts
Edmonton is also investing in its scouting department. The Oilers expanded their hockey operations staff to include Warren Rychel as Director of Pro Scouting and Zack Kassian as a Pro Scout.
Rychel, a former NHL player with significant scouting experience, has been promoted. Kassian, who enjoyed a 13-year NHL career is starting on a new path. He’ll take the more traditional route of watching and assessing talent.
The team also welcomes Aaron Nagy as an amateur scout and Erik Elenz as the Video & Analytics Coaching Coordinator.
With these strategic hires, this is not the Oilers of old. Long gone are the days of the Boys on the Bus. This is a staff that is become well-versed in all areas of hockey analysis and they understand that playing the salary cap game and finding talent in the most unlikely of places could be key to continually building a winner.
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