Despite shuffling through goaltenders and head coaches quite a bit in franchise history, the Edmonton Oilers have been stable at one position. There have been fewer than ten full-time general managers in the 47 years the Oilers have been in the NHL. The results have varied by era, but ultimately GMs in the NHL have greater job security than the coaches they hire.
With the incumbent GM, Stan Bowman, now having completed two full years at the helm, it’s time to compare and contrast. Where do all of the NHL GMs in franchise history place? Like with ranking the goal songs, this observer used a multi-faceted scoring system to determine winners and losers. We’re all about fairness here, and as we do this deep dive, we want it to be as accurate as possible.
Not ranked: Larry Gordon (1978–1980)
Larry Gordon is a forgotten figure in the grand scheme of things. He took over GM duties after the 1977–78 World Hockey Association season, and guided the franchise into their NHL era. Like with Al Hamilton, his only NHL season was the inaugural 1979–80 campaign, though he did help ensure the Oilers made the playoffs that year.
Even the lowest-ranked GMs in Oilers history have lasted longer than one full season. Therefore, it wouldn’t be fair to judge Gordon for running what was basically an expansion team. But it is worth acknowledging his efforts to lay the foundation for the Oilers dynasty.
His GM tenure saw the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Kevin Lowe come to the franchise. and of course make sure Hamilton stayed. How much of a hand he had in getting Gretzky is worth a discussion another time. But overall, solid work for one single NHL season.
Honourable mention #1: Keith Gretzky
Keith Gretzky was merely a placeholder who kept the seat warm for half of 2019. His profile has long been in scouting, and by all accounts, he’s helped the Oilers get to where they are now through those means. But scouting was not something he did in his short interim GM stint.
He didn’t do anything overly special while serving as GM. No coaches to fire, little to do at the Trade Deadline (though the return of Sam Gagner was cool), and then out of the seat during the 2019 playoffs. He has a place to be discussed further as far as his Oilers impact- just not here.
Honourable mention #2: Jeff Jackson
Jeff Jackson’s tenure on the job lasted a matter of weeks, and purely exists because the Oilers had to wait for Bowman to be reinstated by the NHL. But boy, did he go to town while occupying the GM’s chair. Jackson wielded that power like a kid who got a hold of Mom and Dad’s credit card.
After a first-round splash during the 2024 NHL Draft to acquire the pick used on Sam O’Reilly, Jackson entered free agency. He spent wildly, acquiring several names mostly to bolster the forward corps. The spree became known in Oilers lore as the “Summer of Jeff”.
In hindsight, he may have spent too heavily, as the spree indirectly led to the infamous double-offer sheet from the St. Louis Blues. However, the Oilers did get balanced Stanley Cup Playoff scoring in 2025. He didn’t do a lot- but he definitely altered the future, a la Marty McFly.
#7: Steve Tambellini (2008–2013)
All that needs to be said is that the lone remnant of this man’s era is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Steve Tambellini was Kevyn Adams, 15 years before the Adams disaster-class in Buffalo. Very little good came out of Tambellini’s run, and what good did emerge was not sustained.
The Oilers were still competitive in 2008–09 thanks to the next entry in this ranking still being behind the bench. Once he was removed, it took four seasons for the Oilers to even sniff playoff contention in April again. Tambellini fired three coaches in his short five years as GM, was given too much job security by Lowe, and generally was bad at his job.
His only saving grace was drafting, as some of his non-first round picks like Anton Lander stayed around long enough to play playoff games. But Anton Lander can’t save a tenure as off-the-rails as one this bad. The Tambellini era was ground zero for the Decade of Darkness. The next guy wasn’t much better, but he didn’t have five years to destroy everything.
#6: Craig MacTavish (2013–2015)
Craig MacTavish was good at many things. He was a solid depth piece on three Stanley Cup-winning teams. He was a decent captain on a ship that was doomed to sink. And his tenure as Head Coach not only yielded the only deep Oilers playoff run in a three-decade span, but some iconic moments.
As GM, however, MacTavish was out of his league. He was okay at drafting, nailing the Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl selections. He even drafted Anton Slepyshev, who played over 100 games with the franchise, near the end of the third round. But the trades and signings… you’re not going to want to be reminded.
He also couldn’t go down with his handpicked coaching selection, as after getting rid of Ralph Krueger for Dallas Eakins, he canned Eakins after a season and a half. Now, as a Sportsnet analyst, MacTavish is awesome. He’s got some legitimate chemistry with fellow Oilers stalwarts Gene Principe and Bob Stauffer. So, let’s keep thinking about that, and try to forget about his GM tenure.
#5: Peter Chiarelli (2015–2019)
Somehow, some way, the guy who quarterbacked “the trade is one for one” is a top-five GM in Oilers franchise history. Yes, this observer is as surprised as you are. But only five GMs in Oilers franchise history have led the team to Stanley Cup Playoff victories, so here we are.
Peter Chiarelli didn’t run things horribly, at first. It took getting through an injury-plagued 2015–16 season, but on the other side of the waterfall was the playoffs. His early acquisitions (such as Zack Kassian, Pat Maroon, and Andrej Sekera) set the stage for the 2016–17 season that ended the playoff drought. Even Milan Lucic, overpaid as heck by Chiarelli, was at least worth that contract in Year 1.
Chiarelli’s undoing was his own desperation moves, ultimately. Lucic became unplayable, relying on Cam Talbot with effectively no backup goalie burnt Talbot out, and plays for guys such as the goalless wonder Tobias Rieder flopped. Yet, he gave us 2017, so that’s gotta count for something.
#4: Stan Bowman (2024–present)
Bowman became the fourth Oilers GM to oversee a Conference-winning team, in 2025. Yes, he’s not perfect, and yes, the Mike Babcock saga is both a massive gamble and massively frustrating. But Bowman’s otherwise done quietly-solid work with the team he was given.
With every bad hand he’s inherited, he’s taken action. When Dylan Holloway was heading out the door in the double-offer-sheet drama, Bowman found a replacement. He has continued to aggressively upgrade the goaltending position. He even offloaded Nurse’s contract and got a much younger defenceman in return, which alone merits this ranking.
Bowman’s made some solid moves, and is just now coming off a splendid July 1. He’s shown he can fleece teams still, as effectively trading the final year of Evander Kane for all of Vasily Podkolzin has demonstrated. Give him some time to cook, because he may have a chance to rise up these rankings.
#3: Kevin Lowe (2000–2008)
Kevin Lowe the player deserved to have his number retired. Lowe the head coach in 1999–2000 was solid, and kept up the tradition of the Oilers being scrappy. His run as President of Hockey Ops was, as hinted earlier, a trainwreck.
But Lowe’s GM tenure was intriguing. It felt like the pieces were always there, but never meshed. Yet, when the salary cap became a thing, it solved a major problem the Oilers were struggling with at the time: competitive balance.
Lowe oversaw the 2006 run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, and though people forget, he built a team that nearly returned to the playoffs in 2008. Those 2000’s Oilers were never regularseason dynamos, but they weren’t playoff doormats, either. And as all three of player, head coach, and for the longer time as GM, Lowe contributed a lot of good to that era of Oilers hockey.
#2: Ken Holland (2019–2024)
What this ranking should achieve is to remind everyone to be grateful for a gift not often received. Ken Holland was far from perfect as GM, especially in the early years where he could not operate a team without at least a couple former Detroit Red Wings. But he was the GM who finally built a contending team around Draisaitl, and Connor McDavid. His predecessor failed in that regard.
It took five years of building the team up, but Holland got the Oilers back to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in the end. In an alternate universe, if he was extended as Oilers GM, he probably finds a better tandem partner for Stuart Skinner instead of bringing in all the forwards like Jackson did. He probably goes for a more shrewd defence move than Jake Walman.
He was already responsible for bringing in key contributors like Zach Hyman, Mattias Ekholm, and Corey Perry. He drafted Evan Bouchard, on top of it all. Holland was the architect of this current era of Oilers hockey, and whether you approve or disapprove of his run, you have to give credit where it’s due. Well done, Kenny Money.
#1: Glen Sather (1980–2000)
The undisputed champion is, of course, the guy nicknamed “Slats.” No other GM in Oilers history has come close to matching his success. No other GM has a banner for their contributions in the Rogers Place rafters.
Twenty years, more than double the span of any other GM, for his tenure. Five Stanley Cups. Forced to rebuild the Oilers, he built a scrappy team that took out #1 seeds in consecutive playoff years. The work speaks for itself.
When you oversee the NHL’s last true dynasty, you deserve an unquestioned number-1 ranking. There hasn’t been another Slats since, and there may never be another. May we forever salute the tremendous work Sather did for the Oilers franchise.
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