The Edmonton Oilers promoted Bob Nicholson to the role of chairman on Monday and hired Tom Anselmi as president of business operations and COO.

Nicholson, who was previously CEO and vice chair of the Oilers, has been with the franchise since 2014 when he first joined as vice chairman.

"With Bob leading our hockey clubs and Tom leading our business operations, we have a powerhouse combination as we continue to build an elite organization in all aspects of what we do," Oilers owner Daryl Katz said in a team release. "This is an exciting time for our company and the city, and we are full of optimism about the Edmonton Oilers and ICE District hitting full stride in the very near future."

Anselmi resigned as president and CEO of the Ottawa Senators last February after one year with the team.

"It's an honour to be asked to lead the business as we embark on an exciting new era for the team & the organization," Anselmi said Monday.

Nicholson, who spent 16 years as president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada before joining the Oilers, fired general manager Peter Chiarelli in January of this year and promised changes in the organization. 

“We've got some real good players. We've got some real good staff. But there's something in the water here in Edmonton that we don't have right, and we've got to get that figured out," Nicholson said at the time.

"The way that you figure that out is you talk to people. I'm going to try to open up more doors in all aspects of this organization to find out those little things that just haven't been fixed over the last number of years for us not to be in the playoffs."

Since, the Oilers have hired Ken Holland as their new general manager and replaced head coach Ken Hitchcock with Dave Tippett.