TSN: Ryan Rishaug on OverDrive talking about the Edmonton Oilers and if they’re making some decisions with who they bring in, in fear of possibly losing Connor McDavid one day.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Bryan Hayes: “Not a household name now, but it has a history with McDavid, has a history with I guess Connor Brown, with Warren Foegele, with Jeff Jackson who now runs the show out there in Edmonton.
Jeff O’Neill: “So is that why this guy got hired, Hayes? Because he had a relationship with McDavid?”
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Hayes: “That’s what it’s screams of to me ‘O’ but obviously, Jeff Jackson knows him. like you know. Jeff was an agent that was in Toronto and was working in Ontario a lot.”
O’Neill: “Well, I get it and I appreciate thinking outside the box, just not recycling and grabbing some guy just because he’s been in the, in the NHL before.
But I don’t know. Let’s ask Ryan about it.
Hayes: “Here he is, Ryan Rishaug. Go ahead and answer that Ryan because that’s what it screams of outside Edmonton, is this is McDavid’s guy. So that’s why he’s the head coach now.
Rishaug: “Yeah. And I think there’s a few decisions that have been made that kind of lead to that narrative right, about like, just when Jeff Jackson being brought in the position he was brought in and now, now you know Kris Knoblauch and Connor Brown his old linemate kinda is like, like Jay Onrait flat out asked me last night, what’s going on? Like, is he the GM or what?
I did a bit of tweeting on this front today, guys. I got some clarification today. I had a conversation with Jeff Jackson, bottom line, Connor McDavid is not consulted on these big organizational decisions because he doesn’t want to be. He’s not brought into the process. He’s not consulted. He’s not in the room to make the decision. He wants to focus on hockey.
So the idea that he’s behind the scenes like ‘Hey, bring this guy in, bring that guy in’ and it’s, it’s just not accurate. It’s not what he wants. He doesn’t want that level of involvement. And Jeff Jackson would know that he’s been along for the ride with Connor McDavid this entire time.
What this speaks of is an organization who looking to the future is obviously really worried about potentially losing Connor McDavid one day. For sure they are. Why wouldn’t they be?
And so it’s very clear they’re making some decisions with that in mind, putting some people in place that he’s comfortable with, people that he’s familiar with, trying to set up a situation where McDavid is is comfortable.
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And I don’t think he’s asking for that. I think they’re doing that and these are good hockey people. It’s not like these are crazy hires or anything, but you can’t deny the pattern. It’s very much there.