TALKING POINTS: Holland speaks at Oilers Training Camp

Oilers General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Ken Holland conducted a media availability on Wednesday at Rogers Place as the team opened its 2023 Training Camp.

Holland provided some minor injury notes, discussed players invited to camp on professional tryouts, shared some expectations for the team this season and much more, with the first on-ice sessions slated for Thursday.

Read the full transcript and watch Holland's entire media availability below:

Holland on his general feelings about the roster heading into Training Camp:

We had a good regular season last year. You've got to do it all over again. Today we're starting. Thirty-two teams have the hopes and aspirations to make the playoffs. So I'm always nervous. I have great respect for how hard it is to make the playoffs. So I think as we come in, do we know that if we start it with 21, do we know 18 or 19 players are going to be on the roster to open the season? Absolutely. We've got a few things we've got to sort out, and then obviously, we've got to play as a team at a high level starting on opening night.

On expectations of forward Dylan Holloway heading into the season:

I'd like to think that he's going to be on the team, and then I would expect he's going to be on the bottom part of the roster. And I guess when I look at the bottom part of the roster, they don't get power-play time. It's a hard league to get 10 or 15 goals if you don't play on the power play and you don't play 15, 16, 17 minutes. So if you play 10 minutes and you don't play on the power play, be a plus player and see if you can get double-digit goals. And it's not only Dylan Holloway, I guess it's everybody down there.

I think that was one of the things that I was pleased with our team last year, that we had a lot of players in the bottom part of the roster that played those 10 minutes, didn't play on the power play and pitched in with 10 goals. So we're looking for players that can contribute like that.

On expectations goalies Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell this season:

Well, obviously when we finished, I think Stu played 28 of the last 32. I think coming into training camp, obviously, based upon the way you finished, he's probably got the leg up. But the reality is, who's in net on opening night? We're going to need both guys over 82 games. I would think at the end of the year, one guy plays 50, one guy plays 30, or 45 and 35. We'll play that as we go. We're going to need both guys. It's really a two-goalie league. Who plays opening night for the first two? I don't know. For me, it doesn't matter. I think from a fan's perspective, they read into who's the opening day pitcher, who's the opening day goalie. Things change so much over the course of six months and 82 games. Then you factor in injuries.

I'm confident that we're going to have a good one-two punch. Obviously, Stu had a great year last year, finalist for the Calder Trophy. I thought that Jack had a really good finish coming in relief in the playoffs. I think he won nine in a row in February when Stu and his wife had the baby. Probably with Jack it was the consistency. We obviously would like him to be a little more consistent, but when he was playing at a high level, he played at a high level and we won. So I think for Jack's case, being in the second year of a five-year deal, coming in, knowing the city, you come in on a big contract, I think all those things in a lot of cases, the first year is a tough year. So I'm hoping that Jack is going to come in and play his best hockey and we're going to have a good one-two punch in net.

On expectations of Philip Broberg and his playing time amongst the defence corps:

I hope not, but we're going to have injuries over 82 games. To think we're going with the same 12 forwards and they're just going to be in there every night, or vice versa, the same six defensemen. I hope it happens, but I think the reality is you need depth. So I said to these guys today in the meeting, if you're a player coming into camp and you don't quite see yourself on the team, whether you're in Bakersfield, you need to have a good camp. Because the reality is, over the course of 82 games, we're probably going to play 15/16 forwards and we're probably going to play 8/9/10 D. I think you've got to plan on that now because we're tight on the cap.

Obviously we're going to have the odd game during the year when we play under-manned for a game and then we can fill by the rules. You're going to need depth. So Philip's going to get a chance to play, Dylan Holloway is going to get a chance to play. We're going to play lots of these players that spent time in the American League last year in preseason, and again, if they don't make the team, they need to show us that they're close because you're going to need depth. So I think there's going to be lots of opportunity. You think about last year, we ended up sending down Janmark at the start of the season. He turned out to be really important. He played a lot of minutes in Game 1 of the playoffs against L.A. and then broke his foot, and he was a big loss. So things change over the course of 82 games. You need lots of depth. Lots of these players are going to get lots of opportunity, and then it's up to them to take advantage of that opportunity.

On professional tryout (PTO) participants Sam Gagner, Brandon Sutter and Adam Erne:

I'm going to tell you what I told those players and I told their agents. We're trying to win. We're in this window of trying to win. We're trying to put the best team on the ice. We're not going to put somebody on the ice because they've got potential. The potential is going to go to the American Hockey League. You've got to play. So if they can come in and it looks like they can contribute and help make us better, then we're going to figure out a way to make it all work. Now, obviously, we've got to make some decisions here over the course of three weeks, but we're trying to put out the best team that we can on an every-night basis.

On what he likes about Adam Erne and the opportunity the forward has in camp:

Well, I like that he's big. Obviously we lost some size. I had to trade Kostin because of money. Bjugstad obviously went back to Arizona. Those are two big forwards. You like to have some size on your team. He's 28 years old. I like his age. I talked to Jeff Blashill about him. I've talked to Pat Verbeek about him. Obviously, Pat Verbeek was with him in Detroit and in Tampa Bay. Blash coached him in Detroit. He's a great person, very well-respected in the locker room. He's 28 years of age. He's been around the league a lot. He can play on the bottom part of the roster. If you get some injuries, I think he could go up. He can play in the top part of the roster. 

I think he was Detroit's leading scorer or goal-scorer during the pandemic, when they had their own little division. He obviously was looking for a contract. Couldn't get a contract. He wants to win. He's been in a winning organization in Tampa Bay. I respect Steve Yzerman. Steve was the manager in Tampa Bay. When Steve went from Tampa to Detroit, he traded for him and brought him with him. You know, you go one thing after the other, and ultimately it's a PTO. He can come in, and he knows that we're trying to win, and he knows that we've lost some big people, some big forwards over the course of the summer. So he's coming in here trying to earn a job.

On whether he believes Jack Campbell needs to be less hard on himself:

The answer would be yes. But it's for all these athletes, right? It's for every athlete in there to try to sort out where you take responsibility, how much responsibility you take. And obviously, being in goal, when one goes in, the big red light goes on, and there's a lot of action. Fans are screaming, and so if you make a mistake up front, a red light doesn't go on. If you make a mistake on defence, not all the time a light goes on. What's Jack, 30ish? He's been around the league. He's a competitor. He's very demanding of himself. But certainly I think that for me, as a goalie, you can say, hey, I should have had that one. I've got to be better, and you move on. 

Maybe at times he takes a little bit too much responsibility, but I know that I'd rather have that than the guy that doesn't take any responsibility. So I think at the end of the day, he played at a high level for parts of the season. It probably was the consistency. And I think he feels he's had a great summer. He's done a lot of things and I know he's excited to be here now with another opportunity.

On Brandon Sutter's health and chances of making the team:

Well, I'm going to tell you what I told Brandon a few days after we signed him to a PTO. I called him and I said, "Brandon, you're 34 years of age. You haven't played hockey for two years. You had long COVID. You don't really know where your game's at. We don't really know where your game's at. But if you're anywhere close to where you were when you were 28 or 29, you're exactly what we need. You're a right-shot centreman, you can win draws." He's defensive minded, he's a big guy. He can pitch in with some offence.

We need to see where his game's at. Talking to the coaches, he's looked good the last two weeks, but you've got to get the preseason games, you've got to be bumping and grinding and all those things where the intensity next week goes up a little bit more over last week. And then as you start to get to the second, the last three, four preseason games, when you're starting to get 16 out of 20 players on an NHL roster, it goes up again. We've got to watch him here over the next three weeks and then we'll make a decision. But if he's anywhere close to where he was when he was in his prime, he's exactly what we're looking for.

On Steve Staios' status as a member of the Oilers management team:

Steve is not here. I know he's had some things going on in his family. I haven't talked to Steve in probably a month, so obviously Jeff came in, Jeff Jackson came in. We'll see where it is, but for now, obviously, he's an Oiler. I plan to talk to him here this week and see where he's at.

On Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl's potential to take their games to even higher levels:

Being around Connor, he's the most driven athlete that I've ever been around, focused and driven. So I'm sure he found some things this summer that he's pushing himself to get better at. And Leon, too. I mean, they're two of the greatest players in the world, maybe in the history of the game. We're all lucky to watch them every day. They're incredibly driven, individually driven, and they're team driven. Obviously, we want to win the Stanley Cup, but there's lots of teams out there saying the same thing. So they're driven for team success, they're driven for individual success, they're great leaders, they're great role models.

Connor brought in everybody here, called everybody this summer, not only his teammates here, but called players from the American Hockey League and got everybody here two weeks early. Leon bought a house in Toronto so he can be close to Conor. They can work out all summer. I mean, I'm laying a picture of two driven athletes that are in the primes of their career and drive themselves individually, and they drive the team. We're fortunate to have them.

On his own future as he enters the final year of his contract as GM:

Well, I'm not worried about me. My focus? I want to win a Stanley Cup. I mean, everybody in that room wants to win it. That's my focus. I've been fortunate to have been part of four teams that won a Stanley Cup. There's nothing like it for the city, for the players, for the organization. That's my focus. I'll worry about me near the end of the year. Everybody knows how old I am. I had the green bananas joke here last year in May, so I'm focused on every day trying to figure out how we can make our team the best that it can be, and then everything else takes care of itself, and I'll worry about that down the road, but I'm thrilled to be here.

I've got a lot of juice, I've got a lot of energy. I'm very motivated. I'm excited to work with Jeff Jackson. We've got great ownership, we've got a passionate fan base. I think we've got a really good team, and I'm really excited for this season.

On his reaction to Mike Babcock's resignation as coach of the Blue Jackets:

I haven't really talked to anybody. I just know what the media is saying. I guess my one word would be, I'm disappointed for everybody, I'm disappointed for Mike, I'm disappointed for the organization, I'm disappointed. Obviously, Mike and I worked together for 10 years, and his wife and my wife were good friends when were together. And then when you leave, you kind of go your separate ways. We had a great relationship, so I'm just really again, I know what the media is writing, but I don't know a lot more than just I'm disappointed for Mike. I'm disappointed for everybody there.