Is Jeff Jackson now the main man running the Edmonton Oilers?
TSN: Craig Button when ask what his biggest take away was when the Edmonton Oilers replaced coach Jay Woodcroft with Kris Knoblauch.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Lindsay Hamilton: “Absolutely. Now as we know it’s been quite the coaching carousel for the Oilers. Knoblauch the six head coach in the Connor McDavid era in Edmonton. So Craig, what’s your biggest takeaway from the hiring process this time around?
Button: “My biggest takeaway is that Jeff Jackson is now running the show in Edmonton. He was hired to come in, to lead the hockey operations, and now with this move, I think it’s very clear that Jeff now is the decision maker, the key decision maker.
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Jeff will lean on people. He’ll lean on Ken Holland. But with this move Kris Knoblauch coming in, Paul Coffey going behind the bench. You know, Jay Woodcroft had a winning record in his time with the Edmonton Oilers.
But when you come in and you have a new leader, you want to get people in place that you feel to get the best out of the players and get the team to play to its maximum ability. And with Chris Knobloch coming in as the head coach, Jeff Jackson has now established himself as the clear decision-maker for the Edmonton Oilers.”
Will the Boston Bruins look to lock up Jeremy Swayman long-term?
Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now: 24-year-old goaltender Jeremy Swayman will be a RFA again after the season. He’s playing on a one-year, $3.4 million and will the Boston Bruins think it’s time for a big, multi-year deal?
The Bruins will have seven UFAs and one other RFA to deal with. The cap is going up a few million, so they’ll have that extra space. Fellow goaltender Linus Ullmark will be entering the last year of his deal at a $5 million hit.
Elliotte Friedman said on Monday it shouldn’t be a surprise if the Bruins try to lock up Swayman.
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“I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Boston tries to get Swayman done too because he’s on a one-year deal, and he can extend on January 1st, so I’m curious about that,” Friedman opined to Marek. “The way he’s started this year, how well he’s played, how well they’re going, it would not surprise me at all if the Bruins are looking at that as well.”