September 11, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers announced three new additions to their front office on Wednesday. Tobias Salmelainen is in charge of Player Acquisition and Development in Europe, Andreas Karlsson is now a Player Development Coach, and Vincent Malts is now the team’s Mental Performance and Player Development Coach.

The #Oilers have made three hockey operations additions, hiring Tobias Salmelainen for Player Acquisition & Development (Europe), Andreas Karlsson as Player Development Coach & Vincent Malts as Mental Performance & Player Development Coach. https://t.co/EzjEAXgjfE

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 11, 2024

Salmelainen became an agent after his playing career in Finland. He was with Acme World Sports from 2014 – 2017. After that, he became the general manager of HIFK in Finland’s Liiga from 2017 – 2024. 

Salmelainen will be based in Helsinki, Finland. He will be able to work closely with Oilers prospects playing Europe, which include:

Karlsson has a nineteen-year professional playing career that included 264 NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. He moved on to coaching with Frolunda’s junior program, including being an assistant coach for their J18 team and a development coach for their program in 2011-12, and the head coach of their J20 team from 2012 – 2015. Karlsson then moved on to be an assistant coach at York University for two seasons before spending six seasons as an assistant coach in the OHL (Kitchener Rangers, Hamilton Bulldogs, Brantford Bulldogs).

The Oilers used six of their ten draft picks in the last two drafts on players from the OHL. Six OHL players were selected in the 2024 draft, including first rounder Sam O’Reilly of the London Knights. Beau Akey of the Barrie Colts was the Oilers’ second round pick in the 2023 draft. My expectation is that Karlsson will be working closely with those OHL prospects.

2024 seventh round pick Bauer Berry plays for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL. Joel Määttä (2022 7th round) and Luca Munzenberger (2021 3rd round) both play for Vermont in the NCAA. Shane LaChance (2021 6th round) plays for Boston College Long with Matt Copponi (2023 7th round). All of those teams are in the North Eastern United States, which is close enough to Ontario for Karlsson to monitor closely.

Malts has been involved in coaching for over twenty years. He owns a company called Bloodline Hockey that works with youth players to improve their mental performance. Malts has worked in a Mental Performance Coach role with the NAHL’s Danbury Jr Hat Tricks and the ECHL’s Indy Fuel.

The Oilers brought in renowned mental coach George Mumford last season, and he worked closely with the team during the playoffs this past spring. The organization has clearly embraced the idea of improving mental performance, which is critical when the lights are the brightest and the stakes are the highest.

Related: Focusing on the day’s business

Kalle Larsson was hired as the team’s Senior Director of Player Development on May 30, 2024. That was the first step towards improving the development process for Oilers prospects. These three additions to the player development team are the next step in that process. My assumption is that Salmelainen and Karlsson will work with Larsson to implement development plans and to monitor player progress. I’m encouraged that the team has decided to embrace mental performance, especially with developing prospects. I’m excited to see the impact that Malts will have on the latest crop of Oilers prospects.

Related: Oilers hire Kalle Larsson as Senior Director of Player Development

The Oilers’ prospect group is one of the worst in the league thanks to poor drafting and development in recent years. The Oilers are likely to continue trading draft picks for immediate help while their championship window is open, and they will likely continue to have low draft picks as a result of championship contention. The Oilers will certainly need a steady flow of young, cheap players that can contribute to the NHL roster in the coming decade. These hires will play a critical role in the success of the Oilers through the next contracts of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.

*Editor’s note: This piece has been changed to reflect the fact that Matt Copponi transferred to Boston College from Merrimack College this past April.