Edmonton Oilers fan officially hired by NHL team off social media posts

It's a continuation of a trend of data-inclined Oilers fans being plucked by other NHL teams to contribute to building a roster. It sucks for Oilers fans to lose a good one, but a great opportunity for Dennis.

The Carolina Hurricanes took to social media today to officially announce their hires, and confirm the addition of King to their staff.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you've seen plenty of Dennis' content and analysis here.

Like many other Oilers fans, King had built up some frustration with the over-simplifications from mainstream media, and sought answers on his own with analytics.

King was doing solid tactical work for free for Oilers fans, frequently posting lineup trends for the Oilers and analysis on potential additions. He deserves to get a bag for it, and a chance to actually influence a roster.

And of course, King isn't the first Oilers fan to be hired by a rival NHL team that recognizes fan work. King will be joining Tyler Dellow in Carolina, the former Oilers head of analytics.

Oilers fan Sunny Mehta may be the prime example of Edmonton sleeping on their own fans. Mehta was a professional card player who began writing Oilers analysis using advanced stats years ago, and parlayed that into a job with the Florida Panthers - and two Stanley Cups.

Edmonton fans are among the most passionate, inquisitive, and educated about hockey. There's many more other than King and Mehta, and there will be many more Oilers fans hired into the NHL in the future.