June 27, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

Edmonton Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson addressed the media via a video conference call on Thursday morning to address Ken Holland’s departure from the organization and what lies ahead for the Oilers in the coming weeks.

Jackson said that “this was not a surprise”. Jackson and Holland had a “discussion that had been ongoing during the season”, and it’s clear that this was going to be the case for quite a while. Jackson praised Holland’s work during his tenure as Oilers GM, pointing at the acquisitions of Zach Hyman and Mattias Ekholm as his best moves.

Jackson said that there was never a discussion about Holland returning as GM beyond this season. “We sort of just agreed right from when I got hired that [Holland] had one year left, we would work closely together, we had a great relationship, we were very collaborative, we spent a ton of time together. All the moves we made were things that were discussed with each other. I think it was just sort of understood that that’s what he wanted and he made the comment to me ‘you probably want to have your own guy, and it’s probably time’, but that didn’t change the way we operated this year” said Jackson.

It seemed pretty clear that this was always the way that it was going to happen. Jackson’s first move after being hired was to fire Tyler Wright, a long-time staffer of Holland’s. That was surely a sign of things to come. It’s clear that Head Coach Kris Knoblauch was a Jackson hire. Holland interviewed Knoblauch for a coaching job with the Grand Rapids Griffins back in the day, but Holland didn’t give Knoblauch the job. Jackson knew Knoblauch from when Knoblauch coached Connor McDavid with the Eerie Otters, and Jackson was McDavid’s agent. Jackson saw Knoblauch work day to day, and he had intel from McDavid on how Knoblauch was as a coach. That hiring was a sure sign that Holland was not likely to return after this season in my opinion.

While nobody would ever be upset about the team advancing as far as it did this season, the long playoff run by the Oilers has made their management situation more complicated. Now, the Oilers are days away from the draft and the start of the free agency period, and they don’t have a GM in place. 

“We knew we were going to be handcuffed if we went far in the playoffs because you can’t be having discussions about other general managers and asking for permission from other teams while we’re playing because in our business, as you guys know, everything makes its way into the public realm. [Holland] and I talked a bunch of times this year about just making sure that we kept everything ‘no distractions for the players’. I think we were totally aligned on that, and it served our players best to do it that way.”

Director of Amateur Scouting Rick Pracey will run the draft. Jackson specified that Pracey’s job is to run the draft, so that was always going to be the way it was going to work. Jackson said that the team has already started talking to their own impending free agents, and that he is working with his management team, the professional scouts, and his newly beefed up analytics department on that front. Jackson also stated that he will be the acting GM for now and that he does not have any intention of being the general manager.

“I’m working closely with our management group and our pro scouts, all of whom are excellent. Our analytics guys, the hockey ops. The one thing about this year is I was not a CEO of a team that was not involved. I was sort of integrated and embedded all year with [Holland] and the staff, so I have a very good understanding of you know, skill sets and personalities and what people do well, and we have a very capable group… We’ve got a lot to do and we’re sort of behind the eight ball, but I’m confident that we’re going to be able to accomplish what we need to in the short-term.”

There’s more to a management team than just a GM. A GM is the one that has the final say, but there is a large team of assistant GMs, scouts, salary cap specialists, and analytics personnel that all provide information about players. Jackson himself is a former agent that is fully capable of negotiating contracts and of negotiating with other general managers. While it’s not ideal to be without a GM for the draft and the start of free agency, the Oilers have a capable hockey operations team that can carry the load for a short time.

Jackson was asked if he plans on being aggressive in making deals in the coming days, and he said that “we’re going to look at any way we can to improve the team, even if it’s by a small amount. We’re not going to be super aggressive and start making deals all over the place. We obviously have a very good group, we made it where we made it. I’ve never seen a team that’s gelled so well and then through the playoffs matured as a team sort of before our eyes.” 

He added that “we’d like to bring back the team. We might like to tinker with it a little bit, make a change here or there. Being realistic, I don’t know if we’ll get everybody back or not… We’re going to be active and looking at ways to free up money and have options for sure, try to make improvements wherever we can in the lineup; but I wouldn’t say we’re going to just open the floodgates and try to do a bunch of big deals. That just doesn’t make sense with the team that we already have in place and the success we had this year and the group we have.”

Mark Spector asked Jackson about two players in particular: Jack Campbell and Leon Draisaitl. The question about Campbell involved the likelihood of a potential buyout. Jackson said that he wouldn’t comment on Campbell, but he did say that “we’re looking at every option we can on various things, including [Campbell], but at this point we’re not planning that. We’re considering it.” My hope is that there is a way to move Campbell’s contract, but getting a team to take a $5 million cap hit for three more years will be costly. A buyout will leave the team with dead cap space for six years, which is not ideal in a Stanley Cup window.

The conversation around Draisaitl was about his upcoming contract negotiation. He has one year left on his current contract, and he is eligible to sign an extension with the Oilers as early as this summer. Jackson said that he hasn’t started conversations with Draisaitl’s camp yet, but he will meet with Draisaitl’s agent at the draft this week. Jackson went on to say that he thinks that “it’s critically important that the general manager is in place before we get into the meat of that discussion because I’m sure for [Draisaitl] and his representatives, they’re going to want to know what the vision is, who the GM is, all of those sorts of things. It’s a big move and it’s a commitment from [Draisaitl]. I think that obviously he knows me and the way that I operate, and I think that we’ll have a very good general manager in place, but I’m assuming they’re going to want to wait and know who that is before we really get into it.”

He added that he doesn’t feel pressure to get Draisaitl’s contract done by a certain date. “He’s got another year on his contract. He likes playing in Edmonton. He likes this team, he likes the coach, the coaches. We need to sit down and talk about you know, not only money, but philosophically where the team is going to go, what we’re trying to do. I mentioned earlier he needs to know who the new GM is before we really do that because he’s not going to commit long-term and not know who you know, the guy that’s going to be with him day-to-day and on the planes and the hotels on the road and all that sort of stuff, and who’s managing the team day-to-day… We’ve got a year to work on it. We want to keep this group together, and it’s a priority to do that with Leon; but I don’t feel like a date here in the next two, three days or July 1st or anything like that where we have to do something or we’re putting ourselves in peril. I just don’t feel like that.”

Draisaitl is the second best player in the world in my opinion. There’s no argument that he’s a top player in the NHL. I love that Jackson understands that Draisaitl will need to be on the same page with the organization about their long-term goals. Jackson has a lot of time before he needs to hire a new GM since there is a plan in place to get through the draft and the free agency period. He will have time to have preliminary discussions with Draisaitl about what his long-term goals are and his philosophical thoughts about the direction of the team.

The same goes for McDavid, whose contract runs out one year after Draisaitl’s contract expires. We know that Draisaitl and McDavid have a tight relationship. McDavid is the best player in the world, and he will also surely be involved in discussions about the future philosophical direction of the team. 

“There’s probably going to be a point where we sit down with both of them and chat. I mean, Connor’s not going to be involved in a negotiation involving Leon, but philosophically when we get our new general manager, I’m sure we’re going to meet and talk about things, and not doing it in a vacuum. I think it’s important that we have the collaboration of our top two players, and they know what the vision is and what our new GM is thinking…They’re linked, but they’re also separate.” said Jackson.

They will have separate negotiations, but both players will certainly want to be on the same page with Jackson and the new GM about the long-term goals for the team. Jackson understands that the Oilers are in “win now” mode with Draisaitl and McDavid in their primes, and we know that Draisaitl and McDavid want to win more than anything. They also both love playing for the Oilers. I understand that some people are concerned that the team might lose Draisaitl and/or McDavid for nothing in free agency if they are not extended before the last year of their contracts begins, but Jackson is not at all worried about that at this time. Neither am I.

As far as the search for a new GM is concerned, Jackson said that he has “a number of candidates that [he has] started to reach out to. It’s a difficult time for everybody, you know we’re at the draft. People that I want to talk to are like integral parts of other organizations… I’m anticipating that I’m going to have to be a bit patient with that and get through this next few days; but I’m okay with that. I think that I want to do this the right way. I want to get the right person. I don’t have a timeframe for it. Obviously it’s a priority, a big priority, and I don’t want it to linger, and I don’t know how long it’ll take. It’ll sort of be subject to my ability to talk to people when they’re freed up.”

This hiring is critically important for the future of the Oilers. The new GM will have to negotiate the two biggest contracts in Oilers history with Draisaitl and McDavid in the next two years. The new GM will also be tasked with putting the finishing touches that will push the team over the top and allow them to win the Stanley Cup, something that the current group came within a goal of achieving in 2024. We will have to wait and see what Jackson has up his sleeve for this hiring.

For now though, the news of the day is that Holland’s contract will not be renewed. Holland got this team to the Stanley Cup Final and led them through nine playoff series in the last three years. While Holland made some questionable moves that did not pan out, he also made some incredibly impactful moves that got the Oilers to where they are today. Holland did a lot to turn the Oilers into perennial contenders. He should be commended for that.

Related: Holland and the Oilers part ways