Edmonton Oil Kings general manager Kirt Hill has been a busy man over the last few months. A big trade, scouring the market for a new head coach, and having multiple players off to NHL development camps, among other things. I sat down via phone with Kirt and discussed how the offseason has gone so far, and what people can expect heading into September.

DP: First of all, how's your offseason been? It's been a few months.

KH: it's been good, it's been productive. We got a big trade done last week for Max Curran, it was one of our goals of the offseason to have another guy that could play up in the lineup. You know, Max is a veteran player of our league that has an elite hockey sense and offensive production to his game. So I think he'll fit in really well with (Adam) Jecho and (Miroslav) Holinka being on our team and (Ladislav) Smid helping with the development with our club as well. So that was a big, big goal this summer that was accomplished. Obviously, the search for a new head coach has been one that's kept me busy and it's still an ongoing process right now. It's been great getting to talk to a lot of guys, understand their philosophies on the game and get feedback on what they think of our team as well.

DP:  A trade where you acquire a player like Curran,  the top point getter in Tri City last season. How does a trade like that come about? I'm sure there's quite a bit of discussion that goes into it.

KH: I think with Max, he was in a situation where he had been there the last 2 years and I think he was just looking for a change of pace and, you know, wanted to come to a team that he thought could challenge for the league next year. With that, you know, Bob Tory had a conversation with me, and usually anytime I'm going to get serious on a player or try to make a deal, if I really want to get it done, I come in with a pretty aggressive offer, which we did. There wasn't really much back and forth and we were able to accomplish it, and, you know, I feel like they got some good assets, some draft inventory that they really wanted, and we got the player we wanted.

DP: I've heard from a couple different circles that the Oil Kings are very much getting to be an increasingly difficult roster to crack. What are some of the expectations that that you have for the team heading into September?

KH: Well, the expectations are pretty high, we've gone through this rebuild. We've been patient with it, and in junior hockey, in my opinion, it's about finding your window and finding your time to push. You know, I think our team on paper next year has a chance to be a very competitive and strong group. So when you have that, it's obviously the depth in your organization makes you a good team, but with that comes a lot of competition and for guys, it's, and I've said this to our team: it's a very important summer for them because, you don't (want to) leave any doubt in the minds of the decision makers. You have to have a productive summer because it's gonna be a deep group and it's gonna be a hard group to make.

DP: Out of the players that you have at the moment, I believe seven of them headed to NHL development camps over the next week or so. How have you seen their development over the course of the last couple of seasons, it is really a testament to how you guys run your your operation in Edmonton.

KH: Yeah, you know, anytime, any, every player, I mean, those guys have obviously been recognized by NHL teams and get the opportunity to go to a development camp. Any player in Edmonton, I mean, I feel like we're in a development first organization and we put a large focus on that. Kyle Chipchura, our director of that area is, he's with the guys and especially when they're 15 and 16, not necessarily with us is getting them into getting them accustomed to the way we do things in Edmonton and helping them at a young age. I think when you do that it translates a lot quicker when they get to our team at 16 or 17 because they already know what the programme is, they understand the expectations and and they come prepared for that.

DP: I wanted to chat with you a little bit about the WHL draft that took place a few weeks ago, especially with the top two picks, with Wouters and Kokkoris. The team, especially on the back end seems to be getting a lot bigger in terms of stature. It seems like you have a little bit of a type, with how you want to build up your blue line. (laughs)

KH: Again, over the 7 years I've been here, you can never have enough D-men on your roster and depth at the position. It's taxing, a 68 game season is taxing on those guys. So when we target specific players, I mean, this year getting two really big rangy guys that can play significant minutes, bring a physical presence to the game. You know, when I start looking at rosters of teams that win whether it's at the NHL level, the AHL, and especially at the junior level, usually you have a pretty big D corps, and you have guys that can play a lot of minutes. They also have longevity in their game where their size makes your team tougher to play against, makes you get in the defensive zone. With all these guys too, there's an offensive element to their game where they're gonna chip in and, and help with production as well.

DP: Blake Fiddler, selected by the Seattle Kraken in the NHL draft on day two, the highest pick since the Dylan Guenther and Sebastian Cossa selections in 2021. How have you seen his game specifically grow over the last season now that he's on track for the NHL?

KH: I think he's just matured a lot. Blake's a guy that grew a lot over the last 3 years from a size perspective, so I think his physical makeup had to play catch up with that. He has put on significant weight, he's gotten way stronger, which again has helped his game. His skating's gotten better, his defensive zone game, you know, battling in front, hitting guys in the corner, that stuff's come a long way. His ability to create plays and help offensively is a big positive of his game as well, but I just think that the defensive side of his game has taken massive steps over the last two seasons, and I think it'll take another big step this year.

DP: Without giving away too much, heading into the rest of the summer, are there any big moves or anything that that fans could look forward to, or is it looking to be a pretty quiet next couple of months?

KH: I think the biggest task right now is just focusing on getting our coach. I mean, never say never to a move, but our goal is to get the one forward throughout the summer, which we've already accomplished. The depth of our group is there right now, so I think at this point it's "let's get our coaching and get a direction for our team moving into next year". It' gonna be a heavy competition at camp. I remember the years when we had championship team, our training camp was extremely competitive and you have to say goodbye to some good people, but that's part of it. That's part of being a good team and when you have that depth, that comes with having hard decisions.

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