Nathaniel "Nate" Oliver (born April 13, 1980) is an American ice hockey executive, currently serving as General Manager of the

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts are a professional ice hockey team based in Amherst, New York, United States. The team was established in 2015 as one of the four founding franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), originally named the National Women' ...

in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). Prior to his role as General Manager, Oliver served as the Beauts’ Community Relations Manager for one season. Oliver is also an associate director with Campus Living at the University at Buffalo. Before joining the Buffalo Beauts in 2019, Oliver was a sports journalist, having covered the game for ''The Hockey Writers''.

Hockey career

Buffalo Beauts

Oliver was hired as general manager the Buffalo Beauts on May 12, 2020, becoming the fourth GM in franchise history. He replaced Mandy Cronin, who left the position to become GM of the expansion

Toronto Six The Toronto Six is a professional women's ice hockey team based in Toronto playing out of Canlan Ice Sports – York. They are one of two Canadian teams in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) (formerly known as the National Women's Hockey Leag ...

. The first player signed by Oliver was Dominique Kremer. In May 2022, he re-signed Kremer to the first two-year deal in league history. Six days later, on May 9, 2022, he signed Mikyla Grant-Mentis, the reigning league MVP, to the largest single-season contract in league history, valued at $80,000 USD. Other players signed by Oliver while serving as Beauts GM include Autumn MacDougall, an alum of the Alberta Pandas women's ice hockey program, also the first player from U Sports women's ice hockey to be drafted into the PHF. In Oliver’s first draft as general manager, in 2021, the players he selected included RMU Colonials alumnae Emilie Harley (2nd overall) and Anjelica Diffendal (7th overall). With three consecutive picks at 13, 14 and 15, Oliver took Kennedy Ganser,

Anna Zíková Anna Zíková (born 13 May 1998) is a Czech ice hockey player, playing in the Finnish Naisten Liiga (NSML) with HPK Kiekkonaiset. She began the 2022–23 season with Göteborg HC, however the club withdrew from the Swedish Women's Hockey League ...

and Missy Segall. Holy Cross forward Allison Attea went 19th overall, while Oliver’s last pick made draft history. Selecting Castleton University’s Casey Traill, the first player in university history to be drafted into professional hockey, she was the first-ever British player in the draft. Additionally, Oliver selected Swedish goaltender Lovisa Berndtsson with the first ever selection in the PHF's International Draft.

Personal

Oliver considers his closest friend in hockey to be Finnish Olympian and HPK team manager Maija Hassinen-Sullanmaa and he credits her as one of the main influences in his becoming a professional women's hockey GM.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Nate 1980 births Living people American ice hockey administrators Buffalo Beauts Ice hockey executives Ice hockey people from New York (state) Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York Sportswriters from New York (state) University at Buffalo people