The Edmonton Oilers Hire Jeff Jackson As CEO
NHL.com: The Edmonton Oilers figured the best way to ensure Connor McDavid stays in Edmonton was to hire his agent. That’s correct. Edmonton hired Jeff Jackson to be their CEO Of Hockey Operations.
Bob Nicholson will stay on as a hockey advisor while Ken Holland remains as President and General Manager. Jackson will directly report to Daryl Katz. Connor McDavid continues to be represented by Wasserman Hockey.
“Jeff and I have had a long and fruitful relationship, and I have witnessed his care, relentlessness, and obvious knowledge of the game and industry firsthand,” McDavid said. “I look forward to working with Jeff in his new role and am excited about what this means for the future of the Oilers.”
Again, the dynamic has changed or has it? One thing is a given. Edmonton is going all-in to retain its top players.
Trevor Zegras Believes Contract Coming Soon
Dan Rosen of NHL.com: Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks is hopeful a contract is coming soon. The Ducks’ center led the team in scoring with 23 goals and 42 assists in 81 games last season.
With Troy Terry recently signing a seven year, $7 million AAV deal, attention turns to Zegras. He is one of 14 RFA’s currently who could see an offer sheet. The forward has gone on record saying he will not return to Anaheim without a new deal.
Zegras, in the meantime, has been working out with Chris Kreider this summer and is noticeably stronger. The Ducks’ forward wants to be harder to knock off the puck. New coach Greg Cronin is eager to see Zegras in camp and so are his teammates.
Salary Arbitration Recap
NHL.com: The NHL salary arbitration period is now over. With 22 players scheduled for arbitration hearings, only three players were awarded a contract from the arbitrator. That 13.6% rate is higher than the usual 5-10% most are used to seeing.
Those players were Philipp Kurashev, Ilya Samsonov, and Jeremy Swayman. Arguably, the contract to Samsonov set the market for Swayman and Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild.
Kurashev received a two-year deal at $2.25 million AAV, Samsonov got one year at $3.55 million while Swayman received one year at $3.475 million.
Typically, the idea of a hearing scares player and team into making deals but the goaltending market getting set by an arbitrator was interesting.