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Attention shifts back to Kelly McCrimmon with Red Wings hiring Steve Yzerman

Teams searching for a general manager scratched two big names off their potential candidates board on Friday, as the Detroit Red Wings announced Steve Yzerman as their general manager, and former GM Ken Holland as a senior vice president.

For teams like the Edmonton Oilers and upcoming Seattle expansion group, Holland was a person of great interest. Although Holland could still technically leave Detroit for one of these two vacancies, he will remain in Detroit for at least the immediate future.

Now with the Detroit situation resolved, Vegas Golden Knights assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon will once again become a hot name on the GM market. In fact, according to a report from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, the Seattle group is expected to focus in on McCrimmon as their first general manager.

Of course, with Vegas still in the playoff picture, Seattle’s pursuit of McCrimmon will need to be on hold until the Golden Knights’ playoff run concludes. Once their run is over, Seattle will need to request permission to speak with McCrimmon. If the Golden Knights do grant Seattle permission to speak with McCrimmon and all goes well, they are expected to obtain approval from ownership to hire him, according to Baker.

The Oilers also remain interested in McCrimmon and seem likely to at least request an interview with him once Vegas’ playoff run is over. In the meantime, though, Edmonton has interviewed former Toronto Maple Leafs co-general manager Mark Hunter for the second time, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Friedman went into greater detail about the Oilers and Hunter during Saturday’s Headlines, saying, “Hunter is going to be a big part of this [the Oilers] process” and that it is likely not coming to a close anytime soon. Which makes you think McCrimmon likely is still a person of interest for the Oilers.

Either way, expect George McPhee’s right-hand man to remain a hot name on the general manager market and a strong candidate for the Seattle job.