TALKING POINTS: Holland speaks at end-of-season press conference

EDMONTON, AB- Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Ken Holland spoke to the media on Tuesday in his end-of-season media availability.
Holland discussed a variety of topics including Head Coach Jay Woodcroft, the club's goaltending situation, off-season plans, and the roster moving towards the 2022-23 NHL season.
Read the full transcript from Tuesday's interview and watch the full media availability below.

Holland on his evaluation of the season and how big of a step the Oilers took this season:
"I said to our guys yesterday morning that 32 teams started in September and we were one of four playing in June, so that's a pretty big step. I've been here for three years and when I look at the way we've played in the playoffs, the play-in series against Chicago, and then I look at the way we played against Winnipeg and the way we looked in the playoffs this year, we've made great strides in the way that we've played playoff hockey.
"I believe we had the highest Oilers point total in 35 years with 104 points. Saying all those positives, the negatives are we're having a press conference today because we're out. I think we got beat by a better team. They've been the best team in the west for I think over the last two or three years. They won the President's Trophy last year. I think they were second overall this year. Three games were decided by basically a goal if you take out the empty-netters -- games one, three and four -- so I think we've made lots of progress. We've got more work to do. Every off-season's a busy off-season. We've got lots of difficult decisions to make this off-season, but I think we're going in the right direction. Obviously the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup. When you've got the nucleus and the core that we've got, as the manager that's what I'm trying to do -- build around that core of people to eventually take another step. But I think we had lots of positives this year."
Holland on Edmonton's goaltending situation in the immediate and long-term future:
"Obviously Koski's contract is up. Smitty has a year left on his contract and I know Smitty's played, for the most part, banged up all year. So Stuart Skinner is certainly a guy who's in our plans heading into next year. Beyond that, I know I have to go through the process. We lost out two nights ago. Yesterday we met with the players at one o'clock. I met three or four players in the afternoon and I think I have 13 interviews this afternoon. Yesterday I met with all the black aces and there are exit interviews yesterday, today and tomorrow to get everybody's thoughts. Many of them want to get out of town and then basically starting Monday I'm going to start to go to work on next season. I've been thinking about next season, that's part of my job watching the games in the playoffs, but now next season really begins in the next couple of days.
Holland updating the various injuries players were playing through during the playoffs:
"[Draisaitl] was playing with a high-ankle sprain. He got hurt in Game 6 in LA when Mikey Anderson body-slammed him. It was a struggle, but you guys saw him. The odd game during a shift he goes down and then he'd come back. He was playing with a lot of pain. For me, watching what he went through, obviously he couldn't practice and he only could play in games but he got 32 points. It was unbelievable the level he played at with what he was going through.
"Nuge was playing with an injured shoulder, and you had Nurse with the hip flexor. In the last game, Jesse hurt his shoulder. Come playoff time, they play through it but I think with Jesse it's a four-to-six-week injury. Yamamoto was in concussion protocol, and then beyond that, I went through it this morning with [Head Athletic Therapist] TD Forss. There are five, six, seven other guys who were playing banged up. But this time of the year, that's what NHL players do. They play banged up.
Holland on if Nurse will require surgery:
"Right now, TD told me as of 15 minutes ago that he does not think anyone needs surgery. But we're getting pictures of people and we'll know more in the next few days."
Holland on one or two areas of improvement this team needs over the off-season:
"We're in a cap world. One of the things you need is an internal push. I said this yesterday in the room -- if you're 24-and-under, we need you to take a bigger piece of the pie. Whether you're on the team or you're in the American Hockey League, we need you to push. We need you to push this off-season. Take a week off here to get your mental health and yourself all cleaned up, then you've got to dig in here in the off-season to come in here in September and push for a bigger piece of the pie, bigger responsibility, or bigger minutes whether you're chipping in on the penalty kill or if you're some young player like Broberg or Holloway trying to push to make the team... Desharnais, Niemelainen, Samorukov, that was my message to all those young players yesterday.
Number one -- get better. Part of it has got to be internal. It's a cap world, you can't just go out and spend a bunch of money and to $100-to-110 million dollars. Number one is the young kids.
Number two -- I think we have some players who've had tremendous years. We need them to push hard this offseason to stay at that level.
I think the third falls on myself and my staff analyzing what we can or can't do as I work the phone leading up to the Draft. If anything's going to happen in terms of trades, it's going to probably be the week of the Draft. Obviously a week after that is Free Agency, so we'll see where we're at. I met some of the players, but this afternoon and tomorrow I'm basically meeting the team. Yesterday was the black aces -- the young AHL players who were here -- and I'll have more information in the next couple of days about what the veterans are thinking."
Holland on how hard he'll push to bring back Evander Kane:
"Obviously he's an unrestricted free agent. Am I interested in bringing him back? Yes. I think he had a big impact on our team. Not only his ability to score goals, but he plays with an edge. I thought there was wonderful chemistry between him and Connor. He didn't play on the first powerplay, he played on the second powerplay, so I thought we were deeper. When he joined our team, he made our team deeper. So can I keep him? His cap number is $2 million and I don't expect him to play for a $2 million cap number next year. I don't know what it is, but I'll have to sit and talk to his agent Dan Millstein. I've got decisions to make and I've got to go through a process."

Holland on if he knows Kane is interested in remaining with the Oilers:
"I do not. I think he's my last interview today. Next week I'll call all the agents for these players we're talking about, so I do not know."
Holland on if he expects Woodcroft to be back as head coach next season:
"I just told Jay this morning that I've got to get through the next couple of days here and then he and I will sit down early next week on Monday or Tuesday. I think he did a fabulous job. When he took over, Dave Manson came up with him and I told the coaches yesterday that I also thought the coaches who were here, they had a loyalty to Dave Tippett. He had hired them and they found really good chemistry amongst the coaching staff that stayed back when Woody came up. I think we were six or seven points out of a playoff spot. We played the last 40 games or so top-five in the league in points to play our way into a playoff spot, so I thought Woody did a fabulous job. The team responded to him and I told him that he and I would meet early next week on Monday or Tuesday and have a discussion. Would I like him back? Yes, I have interest in him coming back. I want to hear what he's thinking, but I think he did a great job and was a big part of what we accomplished.
Holland on if he feels closer to an 'all in' moment based on the team's performance this season:
"I'm expecting we're going to be in LTIR next year with Klefbom. When you go to the Trade Deadline… the reality is when you get to the Trade Deadline, we're sitting with a very small amount of money to work with. That's why what we did this year at the Trade Deadline, with Kulak they ate half the money to get to $900,000, but they also took Lagesson. The reality is we took a $150,000 on to strike that deal with Montreal. Then we ended up doing a deal for Brassard where they cut it in half. We really took on probably $600,000-700,000 of cap space. That's the reality that I'm looking at next year at the Trade Deadline because I'm not expecting Klef to play. I expect we're going to be in LTIR, so to do some big deal at the Trade Deadline and take on someone who's making five million, I've got to move four or five million out. That's the reality of being in LTIR, so that situation, that 'all in' moment you're talking about is mega difficult.
Holland on the Klefbom contract being a piece he needs to move for more flexibility:
"But [that move] is only giving you flexibility at the Trade Deadline. When the season starts, the cap is $81.5 million. We can go to $81.5 million or snuggle up as high as we can, then we put Klefbom on LTIR. You're paying a price to try and create some space for the Trade Deadline."
Holland on moving contracts to bolster the lineup and push further into the playoffs:
"I'll explore anything. You look at what Connor and Leon accomplished in the playoffs. Basically two points a game playing almost a 100-point team in LA, a 110-point team in Calgary, and an almost 120-point team in Colorado. We played three of the top teams in the Western Conference, so certainly. Kane almost had a point a game and Zach Hyman had 11 goals, so I understand it's a puzzle. You've got to piece this puzzle together and I've got to find out what some of these people are doing. Then, I've got to explore making trades that would be in the best interest of the team for the '22-23 team season.
"Am I prepared to trade some assets if I think that there's a deal that can make us better? The answer would be yes."
Holland on his interest in bringing back Brett Kulak on a three-to-four year deal:
"I met with him yesterday and I told Brett that I wanted to get through the next few days, I'd call his agent next week, and I thought he played really well. He's local, he grew up here, and would love to have a conversation to see if there's a fit for him to stay. I'll talk to his agent Gerry Johannson next week and we'll see.
Holland on what about Woodcroft allowed the players to respond so well to his methods:
"First off, I think there were a whole lot of things. I think Jay's attention to detail. When somebody gets fired middle of the season, I think coming into this year our players had high expectations of them with the moves we'd made and their age and everything. We played the first 20 games and the first quarter of the season we were first overall before the bottom dropped out. We went 2-11-2 and we went from being first overall to at the halfway point being out of a playoff spot. Woody came in and he took charge.
"Dave Tippett did a great job for us. When Tipp came here, the season before we were 28th overall. I think they were near the bottom of the league in penalty-killing, and under Dave Tippett's watch we went to second in penalty-killing. We went from 28th overall to 12th overall. Dave Tippett's a good coach and did a good job here. I felt that when I made the decision in February that we just needed a change just to try and jolt our team into getting back and getting going, Jay did that. He took charge, made some tweaks, had an attention to detail, moved some things around, and the players really responded. One of the things they liked about Jay was as the season wore on, he'd have little adjustments for the game and the next opponent that were maybe different than Tipp did, and they worked."
Holland on comparison betwen the Oilers and Avalanche and how close the Oilers are to getting to their level:
"Fans look at the score. The team that has the 'L' is lousy the team that has the 'W' is good, isn't that what everybody looks at? I look at Game 5 or Game 4 the other day, we're down 1-0, then we're up 3-1, and it goes to overtime. If we score, we're playing tonight and if we don't we're having a press conference. That's the league. My experience in Detroit is you stick with it. We have to make some tweaks and changes, but you stick with it. When you lose, you're never a million miles away. I've been fortunate to touch the Stanley Cup four times, but the differences in teams are marginal. Colorado is the best team in the west, they won the President's Trophy last year, and they've been good for three years now. They've been building to be good. I don't think we're a million miles away, I think we're in the game, but I also think there were teams that were not in the final four that are going to be back next year pushing to get in. We're all going to make some tweaks and in October the season starts and you do it all over again. You got to be there banging on the door year after year and you have to be a playoff team. Colorado is the best in the west but there are going to be other teams that feel like they can play their way in and be one of the final teams to represent the west.
We just lost three games by a goal. We're not losing a game 7-1 and it's not like we were thumping them or they were thumping us. These games are decided by such a small margin, that's why you stick with it. I think we can play with any team in the Western Conference. We were number one overall in the first quarter of the season, and we were top five in regular-season points in the last half of the season. We had the highest point total for the Oilers in 35 years. We beat a 110-team point team in Calgary, but we're not good enough yet to win the Stanley Cup. We need a push from some of our kids, the manager has to make a couple of tweaks and so does the coach. We're going to come back and try to play our way back into the playoffs to be in the same position and hopefully, all the experiences will allow us to go further."

Holland further on the Oilers goaltending situation:
"No, I don't think we have a number one goalie. We had two 1A's with Smith and Koskinen. How do I ascribe a 1A and 1B? They are guys who can play between 40-and-45 games. A number one goalie can play 55-to-60, and I don't think many guys play more than that. There are maybe 10-12 of those in the league and the reality is they are difficult to acquire. I have to sit down with Smith and I'm not sure what he's thinking, and I have to sit down with Koskinen. I'm gathering information, then I have to make a decision.
"Do I want a number one goalie that is a stud that can play? There are 32 teams that want that. It's like an NFL quarterback -- it's a unique position and there's only a small amount of those. Many of the number one goalies are homegrown. They are drafted and developed. Look at last night's game Shesterkin and Vasilevskiy are homegrown. We have hopes for Stuart Skinner, but he's 23 years old and to expect him to come in and play 50-to-60 games is too much to expect and too much responsibility to put on him. I have to go through a process to figure out what to do and where we're going. To think that we're going to end up with a legitimate number one who is 27 years old, the odds of that are pretty slim but I haven't worked the phone to see who is available yet. They aren't giving those guys away. I'm going to try to figure out a way to make our team the best that we can make it heading into September.
"We're in the final four and I think Mike Smith and Koski dug in for us all year. You don't make the playoffs in the National Hockey league without good goaltending. I thought Koski and Skinner were great in the first half of the year, then Koski and Smith in the second half. Smith was a battler in getting us to the final four. Smitty is 40 years old and he gave us everything he could. I have to meet with him to see what he has in his tank. He knows the league and he knows his body, but certainly I know I have to make some decisions in goal between now and the start of camp."
Holland on trying to build a team in a specific image or just trying to build the best team possible:
"Most teams are having massive off-season decisions about their roster. We're in a salary cap world and the cap has been put in place for competitive balance. You can't usually get away with being great for a long time. Tampa Bay has done that and you tip your hat to them that they've been able to do that. We're going to try and make the team the very best that we can, then go to training camp.
"Obviously, the goal is to be a playoff team, have a good regular season and then you've got to go out and do it all over again. Part of getting better is internal, with some young people getting better. That's why there is that fine line of blowing out futures for today and this year, but if you want to be consistently banging away at being good, you must have people coming through the system. They join the team, they play cheap, they get better, they get a bigger piece of the pie and you pay them while someone else goes. If you don't have that push, you go to the open market and you're going to sit until August while other teams take all the best players off and you'll look at what's left. It's not the sexy thing, we need Broberg and Holloway to push their way on the team and Bouchard, McLeod, Puljujarvi, and Yamamoto to take the next step. That's part of getting better. You can't just think I'm going to go out with a big blockbuster move like last year with Zach Hyman.
"We got fortunate with Evander. The team we just had, I can't keep this team together because of the salary cap. I'm going to try and make the team the best that I can, we have a really good nucleus. I have to make sure we're pushing these kids in development camp and keeping our arms around where they are at heading into training camp. The goal is to be good and to compete with the best teams in the league and conference. I thought we did that for the first quarter of the season and the last half of the season and three playoff series. That's all history, we can go back and miss the playoffs next year because there are teams that missed that want to get in. The margin between teams isn't as great as people think.
Holland on how Jesse Puljujarvi's season went:
"I met with him yesterday and I know he's disappointed. He had a great start, I think the first 15 or so games he was a point per game player then the second half of the season was a real struggle. I told Jesse I'd call his agent in the next 10 days, he's obviously a restricted free agent. I'll talk to the coaches and make some decisions. He played really well in the first quarter of the season, then he came off it and it was a struggle for him in the last half. I think he lost his confidence, and he went from the top six to the bottom six. He 24 years old, he's not really young, but he's relatively young. I have to sort out if he's part of the solution.