July 2, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

In case you missed part one of this piece, I went into further detail about Stan Bowman’s role in the mismanagement of the 2010 sexual assault case as documented in the Jenner & Block report as the first part of my analysis of Stan Bowman’s potential candidacy for the Edmonton Oilers’ vacant GM position.

Related: On Stan Bowman: Part One – The Scandal

Now I’ll move on to the hockey related side of this potential hiring decision. Bowman was the GM of the Blackhawks from 2009-2021. The team won three Stanley Cups in that time. That includes the infamous 2010 Stanley Cup win and subsequent wins in 2013 and 2015.

It really needs to be noted that the core pieces of the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup winning teams were drafted long before Bowman took the job. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook were all already in the organization when Bowman got there. Bowman just kept trimming the bushes throughout those glory years. Here is a list of the players that Bowman acquired that helped the Blackhawks win Stanley Cups (thanks to CapFriendly for helping me out one last time):

While some of these players played important roles in those Stanley Cup runs, none of them were key members of the core group. I can’t totally discredit Bowman’s role in any of the three Blackhawks Stanley Cup wins, but he was not the true architect.

Drafting is another key aspect to analyze when considering a potential GM hire with previous NHL experience. Here is a list of the players that Bowman drafted that went on to have NHL careers (over 100 NHL GP):

Obviously it’s too early to evaluate the success of recent drafts, but Bowman’s drafting record took a hard dive after 2013. Bowman had just as many players drafted from 2014 onwards go on to have NHL careers as he did in his first two drafts as GM of the Blackhawks. Mike Kelley was the Director of Amatuer Scouting for the Blackhawks from 2008 until 2021. Kelley was a consistent fixture on Bowman’s staff throughout his tenure with the Blackhawks, so we can’t use a change of personnel as an excuse for the decrease in drafting proficiency in the mid to late 2010s.

The thing we need to evaluate most closely is Bowman’s work in trying to re-tool in the stretch between their last Stanley Cup win and the end of his tenure. The Blackhawks finished sixth in the Central Division in Bowman’s last full season as GM of the team in 2020-21. There was a clear downfall that occurred between 2015 and 2021.

Bowman signed electric Russian free agent Artemi Panarin, who won the 2016 Calder Trophy as  the rookie of the year, after the Blackhawka won the Stanley Cup in the summer of 2015. That was a great, cheap signing for the Blackhawks in 2015. It was needed because the 2015-16 season was the first year of the matching behemoth contracts of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews that each carried a $10.5 million cap hit.

Bowman offloaded Brandon Saad days after the team won the 2015 Stanley Cup. Saad signed a contract with a $6 million cap hit with the Columbus Blue Jackets after the Blue Jackets had traded for his rights. It’s clear that the Blackhawks couldn’t afford Saad’s new contract. Patrick Sharp was the next one to be moved out a couple of weeks later. His $5.9 million contract was a luxury the team couldn’t afford after the Kane and Toews contracts.

Bowman tried to keep the good times rolling at the 2016 trade deadline despite the realities of the team’s roster construction after the Kane and Toews contracts. He traded for Andrew Ladd at the 2016 trade deadline hoping to recreate magic from the 2010 championship year. He acquired Christian Ehrhoff at that deadline as well. The worst move at that deadline was trading Philip Danault, a second round pick in the 2011 draft that was the cusp of breaking out, for Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise. The Blackhawks lost in the first round that year. Andrew Shaw, Bryan Bickell, and Teuvo Teravainen were the next ones to be shuffled out the door in the summer of 2016. 

Niklas Hjalmarsson and Markus Kruger followed in 2017. The summer of 2017 also saw the incredibly odd trade that saw Saad return to the team in exchange for Panarin. Panarin had signed a two-year extension with the Blackhawks in December 2016 that was worth $6 million per season. Saad was also signed at $6 million per season, but for a longer term. Panarin ended up signing a massive contract with the New York Rangers in 2019. Bowman knew that he wouldn’t be able to afford Panarin’s next deal, so he got ahead of it in odd fashion.

Then came the end of Marian Hossa’s time in Chicago. His famous equipment allergy brought an end to his storied career, and Bowman dumped his contract on the Arizona Coyotes in July 2018.

Finally came the summer of 2021 when Bowman had to get rid of the contracts of his two legacy defencemen, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Keith requested a trade to be closer to home, and his wish was granted with a trade to the Oilers. Seabrook’s contract was moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Tyler Johnson. The Blackhawks got a player they could use, and the Lightning got a way to create some cap space with an LTIR player.

There were also notable missteps from Bowman regarding young players near the end. Nick Schmaltz was traded to the Arizona Coyotes for Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini. Henri Jokiharju was traded for Alex Nylander. The Blackhawks gave up the best player in both trades.

The Oilers find themselves in a situation where they have their own massive contracts that they need to give their franchise players over the next couple of seasons. Bowman didn’t get creative with Kane and Toews. He just gave them matching contracts. Bowman also ran the team into the ground after those contracts were signed. He was unable to turn the assets gained from moving out expensive contracts into anything that would help the team in the future to keep them competitive. They have lost both Kane and Toews since. Toew’s issue was more of a health issue, but Kane didn’t want to stick around for a rebuild.

That’s not the outcome that I want for the Oilers. Based on a purely hockey perspective, I would not choose to hire Bowman because of his body of work. His worst work came in the phase of his Blackhawks tenure that most closely matches the phase that the Oilers are about to enter. The other factor to consider is that there are only two GMs that have won Stanley Cups as the GM of multiple teams in the history of the NHL. I don’t like those odds. I personally would not choose a GM that has won a Stanley Cup as a GM in the past for that reason.

I also wouldn’t hire Bowman simply based on the optics around hiring Bowman due to the 2010 sexual assault incident. Regardless of his level of guilt or involvement in the mismanagement of that situation, the potential hit to the public image of the Oilers just isn’t worth what Bowman could potentially bring to the table. 

I will be extremely disappointed if that is the direction that Jackson and the Oilers choose for this hire. I’m not a torches and pitchforks person, and I have a deep emotional connection to the Oilers, so the decision will not affect my fandom. Like a parent of a child that does something wrong, I’ll be disappointed; but I’ll still love my team.

I want to return to Servalli’s post for a second here. He pointed out that the Oilers were interested in Bowman as early as last summer BEFORE Jackson was hired.

Bowman will become a top candidate for #Oilers GM vacancy. Believe he was on Edmonton’s radar when Jeff Jackson was hired last summer though still ineligible then. https://t.co/x369DKhs0p

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 1, 2024

Where could that interest have been coming from within the organization? Former Oilers CEO and Vice Chair of the Oilers Entertainment Group Bob Nicholson was moved to an advisory role within the organization after Jackson was hired last year. Nicholson was a part of the upper management shuffle, so the interest couldn’t have been coming from him. Former Oilers GM Ken Holland certainly would not have been involved in the process of searching for his boss. The only one above those two is Oilers owner Daryl Katz. That leads me to believe that Katz was the one that was interested in Bowman last year, and I believe that Katz is still the one with the most interest in Bowman.

That little tidbit of information also makes me think that Bowman could be considered for a larger role with the Oilers than just the GM role. The NHL Network’s EJ Hradek hinted at this type of management structure on Monday:

Expect Bowman to land in Edmonton. Mark Hunter might have a significant management role there as well. Time will tell. https://t.co/IQytGf66mM

— E.J. Hradek (@EJHradek_NHL) July 1, 2024

Once again, I’ll reiterate that if you’re truly angry about the notion of the Oilers hiring Bowman because of his role in mismanaging the 2010 sexual assault case, then please do something meaningful about it and donate to SACE either on their website or my personal fundraising page. My personal fundraising page will be up until July 10, 2024, and I will make a new one if Bowman is hired by the Oilers.