Edmonton Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson is not putting a timeline on when the team will hire a new general manager after parting ways with Peter Chiarelli last week. 

Nicholson said that while it would ideal to have a new general manager in place as soon as possible, he wants to make sure the team makes the right hire to lead them into the future.

“This is going to be a huge hire for the Oilers,” Nicholson told the Edmonton Sun. “I’d like to have that person in place tomorrow, but this time I’m going to make sure I turn over every rock and talk to a lot of people. I need to make sure that when we name that person, it’s the right person for the organization long-term. That’s the No. 1 goal.”

Keith Gretzky is serving as the Oilers interim general manager and could lead the team through the trade deadline. Nicholson stressed that the Oilers, who have picked first overall four times since 2010, are not starting over. 

“We’re not doing a rebuild. We’re doing a build,” Nicholson said. “There are good pieces in place, real good pieces.

“We’re three points out of a playoff spot. Our whole situation fits with our players and our coaches to turn this around immediately. We’re going to try to make sure everyone has those tools to do it and we’ll continue to evaluate on a short-term basis to have a long-term approach.

“I already know that we have a lot of real good parts. I’m not going to touch the real good parts. We have to look at the other parts to make this better.”

The Oilers have arguably the league's best player in centre Connor McDavid signed through 2025-26 and All-Star Leon Draisaitl signed through 2024-25. In short-term, however, the team is projected to have just $8.5 million in cap space this off-season. 

Nicholson argues that the Edmonton job is among the most attractive in the league.

“In fairness, this is one of the better jobs in the National Hockey League. We have a passion within this fan base that is unbelievable,” he said.

“The fan base is upset right now. My job is to find the general manager to make that happen for the fans.”