Big day for the Hurricanes on the hockey ops side of things.
In addition to formally introducing Bill Peters as their new head coach, the ‘Canes announced that former Edmonton Oilers assistant GM Rick Olczyk would be joining the club in the same capacity, serving under new GM Ron Francis.
“Ricky brings a wealth of experience to the Hurricanes,” Francis said in a statement. “His legal expertise with the Collective Bargaining Agreement and other areas of hockey operations will be a great asset to our management team.”
More, from the release:
Olczyk, 44, comes to Carolina after six seasons as assistant general manager with the Edmonton Oilers. The Chicago, IL, native joined the Oilers’ hockey operations staff in 2007 as director of hockey administration and legal affairs and was Edmonton’s liaison to the NHL regarding all matters pertaining to the CBA.
Prior to joining the Oilers, Olczyk ran his own legal consulting firm in Chicago for six years, representing players and advising families on academic and professional goals.
The younger brother of NHL on NBC analyst Ed Olczyk, Rick served Edmonton in a number of capacities but paid special attention to scouting U.S. collegiate free agents -- which makes sense, given he played four years of NCAA hockey at Brown University, where he served as captain in his senior year and was a teammate of ex-NHLer Todd Simpson.