Several sources this afternoon have the negotiations between Scott Howson and Columbus at the point where they're in contract talks. Good news for Howson, who has always been an interesting interview and has the reputation of being a guy who knows how to work with the cap.
I'm not certain this is good news for Edmonton. We don't know if there's any compensation, and Howson may well have been considered as a future GM for the Oilers (along with Kevin Prendergast, who has interviewed for several GM jobs, including Edmonton's before Lowe was offered the gig).
The Oilers don't have to make a decision this summer, as Kevin Lowe is under contract. The EIG is no doubt watching how the draft and UFA season roll out before addressing Lowe's future, and even with a strong season a renewal of his contract is probably unlikely before the turn of the year.
There are lots of strong candidates for any given GM job, but Howson had several things going for him: he wasn't a GOB, he had a pretty strong business resume aside from being an actual player, and he was certainly familiar with the organization.
I hope he does well in Columbus. They deserve a good GM to good along with their solid coach. Make those suckers in Detroit and Nashville earn their playoff spot, boys.
Yeah, make em earn it Howsey! And throw us a Nash...err...bone every now and then. Tee-Hee.
ReplyDeleteAnd on a similar note,
ReplyDeleteKeenan is to be named the HC of the Flames according to Dreger.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
The Howson deal looks like it's done.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, anyone up for Mark Messier as replacement for Howson? We've given plenty of Ex-boys a shot in the past.
ReplyDeleteGreat move imo, by Columbus. If anything, he can't do any worse than MacLean.
ReplyDelete-Matt
www.gunnhockey.com
In my opinion this is most certainly bad news for us as fans. I base this mainly on the assumption that Lowe will step down after the following season, and not having a clearcut successor can only lead to more confusion and dizziness for the Oil's head office and despair for their fans.
ReplyDeleteLooks like CBJ are getting the ship going in the right direction. That is a solid GM and coach now.
ReplyDeleteCalgary on the other hand, that should interesting. Apparently Kerr from the 960 in Calgary was on Gregor's show and said Keenan will be announced as coach tomorrow.
I imagine this makes Prendergast the heir apparent.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it exactly, that Howson did? I mean what's the value of being a "great cap guy" on a team that last year was what, at least four mill under? Whoop dee damn do, yeah you were certainly counting the beans last year, right?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, there are some good contracts on this team like Horc, Hemsky and Staios and then there's the terrible Lupul pact and the Oilers also made a bad move by wanting to squeeze Pisani when all he wanted was 1.1 mill. So who gets the blame and credit for the above-mentioned moves? And if he was making personnel decisions, which one did he make? Was he dummy that said Lupul was more than what he seems or that Smid was what Brian Burke lied he was?
I don't trust Pendergast because he has a blonde moustache, I'm only half-joking here and just think about and you might find yourself agreeing with me;) and his comments about Mihknov make Guy Flaming look like Debbie Downer and while it seems like everything's falling apart for the Oilers, I just don't think we know enough about what Howson actually did before we should lament any loss. For instance, I just read he was in charge of their AHL opps for the last two seasons but what does that mean? Is he the one we look to when you think of the case of Bisallion and remember that we had so few minor league D signed that we had to bring him out of junior and burn some service time for the sake of a couple of games in a lost season?
Seriously, I want to know just what he was responsbible for.
Fred Ferriera was an Expos scout who was in charge of Latin America and he unearthed Vladdy. This I know. I think there's also a story about how he smuggled Will Cordero through an airport because he heard the Yanks were on their way with a Brinks truck. But you know, my point is that I know some things he did.
With Howson, we don't. He could be just as much of a Paulie as he is a Sil.
I'm with you Dennis, for all we know Howson was the genius behind "5 assets."
ReplyDeleteThe timing is not great for the Oilers given he likely knows their draft strategy, who they are targeting as free agents and how much money they might have set aside for various players. It also is poor for the Jackets as he will have a pretty steep learning curve to get ready for the draft and free agency around the corner.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, yeah, who knows if this is a good or bad thing?
same thing happened with Ottawa/Boston last year (+ same division). Anyone remember how that was handled?
ReplyDeleteWell, Howson is from the JFJ school, I guess we can say, but I have to agree with Dennis. Like JFJ it appears someone thinks highly of him but who is to say how it all works out.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather him then Messier if I was running a team but we'll see. Here's his chance. Maybe he can't hit a curveball.
As a hockey fan I've had very short conversations with both Kevin Prendergast and Scott Howson. One struck me as thoughtful, the other as arrogant an flippant. Columbus is coming out on the long end of the stick.
ReplyDeleteWere Prendergast to become GM with the Oilers I would become a soccer fan.
Last year with Ottawa/Boston Boston's new GM and outgoing assitant GM Peter Chiarelli wasn't allowed to be at the draft table for Boston or even report at all for his new job until after the draft.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how things worked with the July 1st UFA deadline but I'd suspect he'd have to be around to sign Chara to such a big contract.
Heard Chiarelli interviewed on Xm where he talked about the situation but I can't remeber the specifics. I'd assume a similar arrnagement would have to be made with Howson.
T
I'm still not convinced that this is a huge loss, that's not me being difficult, it's just that I don't know what he really did.
ReplyDeleteLowe's recently said that he leaned on Howson when it came to trades and the like so if Howson didn't stand up to Lowe on Pronger and Smyth or if he was the guy who didn't think Smyth was worth the money, then I don't think this is a big loss.