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Shocking information shiny and early on a Thursday morning in August, as Oilers Leisure Group has made main modifications on the very high of its Hockey Operations division. Jeff Jackson — finest recognized in these components as Connor McDavid‘s agent — is in as CEO, whereas his predecessor Bob Nicholson has been reassigned a task as Particular Advisor.
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Jeff Jackson is a former NHL participant, taking part in 263 video games with 4 groups between 1984-92, however has made a reputation for himself post-playing profession. Based on this morning’s media launch from the Oilers, he spent years as a company and leisure lawyer, then switched gears in 2006 to develop into the Assistant Normal Supervisor of Toronto Maple Leafs. There he had direct oversight of the AHL squad Toronto Marlies, a task similar to what Keith Gretzky has carved out with the Oilers.
In 2010 Jackson grew to become a participant agent, in the end constructing his Wasserman Hockey into a significant participant. As an agent he represented McDavid, Aaron Ekblad, Alex DeBrincat, current Oilers signing Connor Brown and lots of others. With Jackson now in any other case engaged, McDavid will probably be represented by Wasserman’s Judd Moldaver, who can also be the agent for Auston Matthews amongst others.
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Whereas McDavid’s eight-year, $100 million contract nonetheless has three years to run, one can solely suppose this transfer will increase the chance that he’ll stick with the group in the long term. He said: “Jeff and I’ve had a protracted and fruitful relationship, and I’ve witnessed his care, relentlessness, and apparent data of the sport and trade firsthand. I stay up for working with Jeff in his new position, and am enthusiastic about what this implies for the way forward for the Oilers.”
The discharge states partially: “In his new position, Jackson will report on to [owner Daryl] Katz and function an Alternate Governor on the NHL Board of Governors. He’ll oversee all elements of OEGSE’s NHL, AHL and WHL hockey operations. Jackson will work intently with Ken Holland, who continues in his position as President of Hockey Operations and Normal Supervisor of the Edmonton Oilers and can report back to Jackson. Paul Coffey, who has been with the Oilers as a Particular Advisor to Daryl Katz for greater than a yr and has been integral to bringing Jeff to OEGSE, may also help Jackson in his new position with the group.”
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In the meantime, the previous CEO Nicholson was barely talked about within the launch, talked about amongst a gaggle of names in a quote from Jackson however not in any other case. Based on the Oilers Workers Listing, Nicholson is now thought-about a Particular Advisor to Hockey Operations, noting that he left his prior position in June 2023, now over a month within the rear view. That means this has been within the works for some time.
Native sports activities reporters Ryan Rishaug and Jason Gregor offered these feedback:
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Jackson is considered as a progressive kind who might very effectively be anticipated to overtake the hockey membership’s method to analytics, a improvement that’s lengthy overdue within the eyes of many critics.
Based on the membership’s media launch, “The Oilers will host a media availability at Rogers Place on Thursday, August 3 at 2pm MT with Jeff Jackson and Ken Holland that may be considered solely on OilersPlus.com.”
We’ll present an additional replace after that avail.
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