Struggling Edmonton Oilers fire general manager Steve Tambellini from post

EDMONTON – Steve Tambellini is out as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers.

Kevin Lowe, the Oilers president of hockey operations, announced Monday that the NHL club had fired Tambellini from his post.

Tambellini was in his fifth season with Edmonton and was named the club’s fourth general manager July 31 2008.

Tambellini, 54, succeeded Lowe as Oilers’ GM following Lowe’s promotion to his present post.

Edmonton makes the move while on the verge of missing the NHL playoffs for a seventh consecutive season.

The Oilers currently stand 12th in the Western Conference standings with a 16-18-7 record, eight points behind eighth-place Detroit.

The club’s new GM will be Craig MacTavish, who coached the Oilers in 2006. That year, Edmonton reached the Stanley Cup final before losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Also returned to the Oilers is former assistant GM Scott Howson, who was recently fired as GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Howson becomes the Oilers’ senior vice-president of hockey operations.

Tambellini, a native of Trail, B.C., has been in charge of rebuilding the Oilers around such young stars such as Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle and the club was expected to contend for a playoff spot this season.

Last year, Edmonton had its third first overall draft pick and used it to take Nail Yakupov after last year selecting Nugent-Hopkins and in 2010 on Hall.