After a very busy offseason for the Edmonton Oilers, interim GM Jeff Jackson has stated that he will not be staying in the role for much longer.
Jackson has been among the busiest people in the entire NHL during his short tenure as the team’s interim GM. The 59-year-old executive has signed over a dozen contracts and has made three trades, including one that sent roster player Ryan McLeod to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for top prospect Matthew Savoie.
It’s been an interesting summer to date for Jackson and the Oilers, and it has garnered a lot of praise for the team getting better after coming up short of the Stanley Cup last season.
Many Oilers fans were hoping that Jackson would stay on as the team’s GM going forward, but those hopes were dashed during an appearance on The Bob McCown Podcast earlier today.
“I don’t wanna be the general manager,” Jackson said. “I’m an active CEO, so I’m involved in the day-to-day, but I think being with the team on a daily basis, like a GM has to do, doesn’t work for me and my family, and that’s a discussion I had with [Oilers owner] Darryl Katz right from the get-go.”
With Jackson now officially out of the running for becoming the next GM of the Oilers, the focus will shift to potential candidates that could arise. Jackson is still the CEO of the team and will be heading up the search for who will replace him in the GM chair.
He told McCown that a new Oilers GM will hopefully be hired sooner rather than later.
“I’m working through that process right now,” Jackson said. “I’ve spoken with a number of candidates and making my way through that.
“Hope to have a decision on that front. I don’t wanna put a timeframe on it, but it’s probably in the next week to 10 days sort of thing, I would think.”
Daily Hive recently went through an extensive list of nine potential candidates that could wind up with the Oilers job. Among the louder names on that list have been the highly controversial Stan Bowman, who was recently reinstated by the NHL after having been suspended for his role in covering up an alleged sexual assault while serving as the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010.
Another name to keep an eye on is Mark Hunter, the current owner and GM of the OHL’s London Knights. Hunter was among the first executives to be linked to the Oilers’ GM job way back in March.
Whoever it may be, a final decision seems to be coming, and it will be something that Oilers fans want to pay attention to.