TALKING POINTS: Jeff Jackson discusses Thursday’s Ken Holland announcement

Oilers CEO of Hockey Operations & Alternate Governor Jeff Jackson held a media availability on Thursday to discuss the club's decision to mutually part ways with General Manager Ken Holland following the expiry of his contract.

Additional topics included the club's upcoming Draft and Free Agency plans, future discussions with potential GM replacements, negotiations on a contract extension with Leon Draisaitl, and more.

Read the full transcript & watch the full media availability with the Oilers CEO of Hockey Ops below:

Jeff Jackson delivers his opening comments:

“Thanks everybody for joining this morning. By this point, you've seen the release that we put out an hour or so ago with respect to Ken Holland. I want to start by reiterating some of the things that were said in that press release about Ken's time in Edmonton and what a fantastic job he did as a general manager over the five years – culminating in us going to the seventh game in the Stanley Cup Final and losing by a goal.

“It's been a real pleasure working with Ken. He's a fantastic human being as you all know, and I met with Ken yesterday to formalize a discussion that'd been ongoing during the season. It’s not a surprise to Ken or myself that we've mutually decided that this was the best thing. I think he was ready to move on and we're going in a different direction. We had a great hour-long meeting and as you guys know with Ken, lots of laughs and different things sort of reminiscing on the season. So from that point of view, I just wanted to again thank Ken for everything that he's done both personally and professionally with myself this year and our staff.

“But now, we move on. We've got a lot of work to do. Our success this year put us in a spot where we don't have a lot of time to do things, and the league's been operating while we were playing. We have our own unrestricted free agents to sign. We've got the Draft. We've got Free Agency. I have to find a new general manager. All of those things I'm sure are things that you guys [the media] have questions about, so rather than me droning on about that, why don't we take some questions. I'll try to answer them the best I can and try to give you guys some clarity on what's happening.”

Jackson on if there was a contingency plan for replacing Holland after such a deep run to the Stanley Cup Final:

“No. As I alluded to, this was not a surprise. We knew that we were going to get handcuffed if we went far in the playoffs because you can't be having discussions about other general managers and asking for permission from other teams while we're playing. In our business, as you guys know, everything makes its way into the public realm and Kenny and I talked a bunch of times this year about just making sure there were no distractions for the players. I think we were totally aligned in that and it served our players best to do it that way. So as far as a contingency plan, we knew if we had success, we were going to be pushed to the end here. Obviously I've been formulating plans in my head and mapping things out with the hope that we would get really far, knowing that it would be difficult. So here we are and I'm going to move forward over the next couple weeks and get the things done that need to get done.”

Jackson on the next few days (Draft, Free Agency) for the Oilers without a GM in place:

“We started immediately to talk to our own unrestricted free agents; guys that are going to be eligible July 1 who played for us this year, so that process has already commenced. I'm working closely with our management group and our pro scouts – all of whom are excellent – and our analytics guys and our hockey ops. The one thing about this year is that I wasn’t the CEO of a team that wasn't involved. I was sort of integrated and embedded all year with Ken and the staff, so I have a very good understanding of the skill sets and personalities and what people do well.  We have a very capable group, so we started the UFA process.

"Rick Pracey is going to run the draft. That's his role. That's the role of all chief amateur scouts for all the teams, and then as far as free agency goes, there are guys that we have targeted. We spent a lot of time simultaneously to [playoffs] with our pro scouts. Many of you know that we had our whole crew in town during the Dallas series and have gone over and prioritized things. When July 1 hits, we're going to get on those and we've got a lot to do. We're sort of behind the eight ball, but I'm confident that we're going to be able to accomplish what we need to in the short term and then going forward with some discussions on contract extensions and things like that.”

Jackson on if he’s serving as the acting GM as they search for Holland’s replacement:

“I guess I would be the acting GM. I'm going to be the one that's overseeing everything. As I said, in conjunction with our staff, I don't have any intention of being the general manager. I have a number of candidates that I have started to reach out to. It's a difficult time for everybody. We're at the Draft. People that I want to talk to are integral parts of other organizations, so I'm anticipating that I'm going to have to be a bit patient with that and get through this next few days, but I'm okay with that.

“I want to do this the right way. I want to get the right person. I don't have a time frame for it. Obviously it's a priority – a big priority – and I don't want it to linger, but I don't know how long it'll take. It'll be subject to my ability to talk to people when they're freed up.”

Jackson on how aggressive he’ll be with trades around the Draft and Free Agency with the Oilers still in ‘win-now’ mode:

“We're going to look at any way we can to improve the team, even if it's by a small amount. We're not going to be super aggressive and start making deals all over the place. We obviously have a very good group. We made it where we made it for a reason. I've never seen a team that's gelled so well, and then through the playoffs matured as a team before our eyes. So to answer your question, we'd like to bring back the team. We might like to tinker with it a little bit and make a change here or there, but being realistic, I don't know if we'll get everybody back or not. We’ve got to try. We've got to work around cap issues and different things like that, so we're going to be active and looking at ways to free up money and have options to try and do it. We’ll make improvements wherever we can in the lineup, but I wouldn't say we're going to just open the floodgates and try to do a bunch of big deals. That just doesn't make any sense with the team that we already have in place, the success we had this year and the group that we have.”

Jackson on the injury status of Connor McDavid heading into this offseason:

“I don't have an update on Connor. We went through the medicals yesterday and I've got to sit down with [T.D. Forss] our athletic therapist and sort of review all of that. I don't think any of that's finalized yet, and I wouldn't comment on Connor or any other player at this point. We'll have to just see where that goes.”

Jackson on balancing bringing back this past season’s team with the age of the team and its UFAs:

“Yeah. Obviously everybody would love to have a young team and have everybody in their prime years. I think that the guys that we would like to bring back, we're probably not talking about long-term deals. They would probably be shorter types of deals. You can put an age on our team and say we're the oldest team. There are a couple of guys that we have or had that drive that average up a little bit, but we're very happy with the way that Broberg came along in the playoffs and showed us the big strides he's made, and Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod and some of these other younger guys. Connor and Leon are in their prime.

“We're in win-now mode still and that's not going to change. We feel we're that close. It's clearly evident that we're close just where we are, and it's a tough league. You get into the playoffs and things have to line up really well and perfectly to get where you get to, and I loved our team this year. So the age part of it, yes. We want to continue to integrate younger guys into the lineup, and we'll look for ways to try to do that. But I'm not too concerned at this point whether a player’s 32 or 34. If he's still contributing and playing an important role and playing a leadership role that fits within the paradigm of our team, I'm okay with that.”

Jackson on the potential buyout of Jack Campbell and negotiations with Leon Draisaitl’s camp on a new contract:

“At this point, I'm not going to comment on Jack. We're looking at every option we can on various things, including Jack, but at this point, we're not planning that. We're considering it, and I would say with respect to Leon, we haven't started negotiations with him. I'm sure that during this week here at the Draft I will see Mike Liut, who's his agent, and we'll have a discussion.

"I think it's critically important that the general manager is in place before we get into the meat of that discussion because I'm sure for Leon and his representatives are going to want to know what the vision is, who the GM is and all of those sorts of things. It's a big move and it's a commitment from Leon. I think that he knows me and the way that I operate, and I think that we'll have a very good general manager in place. But I'm assuming they're going to want to wait and know who that is before we really get into it."

Jackson on a move made by Holland that stood out to him during his time with the Oilers:

“Yeah, there are a couple that have immensely contributed to the team’s success. Obviously, the Zach Hyman free-agent signing was a brilliant one. Not only has Zach continued to improve as a goalscorer, but he brings so much leadership to the team. For anybody who covers the team on this call, you know the quality of the person that he is, so that's one. Obviously, the Mattias Ekholm trade with Nashville at the deadline a year ago can be another thing that's looked at as it sort of changed the trajectory of a lot of things. Ekky brings so much leadership, compete and mentoring. It allowed us last year to elevate Bouch, and he responded. They're a great pair. But those two things, you see what's on the ice, but those two guys in particular off the ice – adding to Leon, to Connor, to Nuge, to Nursey – we have an amazing leadership group and it's not just two or three guys anymore. It's a big group. So those two moves by Ken I would say were excellent moves."

Jackson on if there were any discussions about extending Holland’s contract:

“No, we never got into that. As I said earlier, we sort of just agreed right from when I got hired that we would only have one year left. We would work together closely. We had a great relationship. We were very collaborative. We spent a ton of time together. All the moves we made were things that we discussed with each other. I think it was just sort of understood that's what he wanted.

"He made a comment to me, ‘You probably want to have your own guy, and it's probably time'. But that didn't change the way we operated this year. Kenny was so engaged. There was no time when he wasn't doing what he's done for the past 30 years as a general manager in the league, and I think the proof was in the pudding. Right to the very end, he did a great job.”

Jackson on negotiating an extension for Draisaitl and the risk of not having a deal in place before the start of the ’24-25 NHL season:

“Obviously, Draisaitl is a top-five player in this league and he's been here for a long time – ten years. He and Connor have played together for a long time and he's had a lot of success personally as a player. Our team has had success, especially this year.

“To answer your question, I've alluded to this a few times. I don't feel the pressure of any date to do this. He's got another year on his contract. He likes playing in Edmonton. He likes this team. He likes the coaches. We need to sit down and talk about not only money, but philosophically about where the team is going to go and what we're trying to do.

“I mentioned earlier that he needs to know who the new GM is before we really do that because he's not going to commit long term and not know who the guy that's with him day-to-day – on the planes, in the hotel, on the road and all that sort of stuff – and who's managing the team. So I feel confident that we'll sit down as soon as we can. Obviously, it's of critical importance for us, and if we don't have something done by July 15, we'll keep working on it. We’ve got a year to work on it. We want to keep this group together and it’s a priority to do that with Leon. But I don't feel like a date here in the next two, three days or July 1 or anything like that where we have to do something or we're putting ourselves in peril. I just don't feel like that.

Jackson on considering Draisaitl and McDavid’s contracts together or if they’re looked at separately:

“Leon's going to make his decision and Connor makes his decision. It's not like there's some connection that's practical right now. Their deals don't line up. The guys are very close friends. They're confidants of each other. They share lots. I know that because I was with Connor for years as an agent and I know the deep relationship that Leon and Connor have, so I think there's probably going to be a point where we sit down with both of them and chat. Connor's not going to be involved in a negotiation involving Leon, but philosophically, when we get our new general manager, I'm sure we're going to meet and talk about things and not do it in a vacuum.

"I think it's important that we have the collaboration of our top two players. They will know what the vision is and what our new GM is thinking, so I sort of anticipated it at some point. I'm not sure when that is because Connor's got a wedding coming up in a month and there's lots of planning, and I'm sure he's going to decompress here for a little bit. And same with Leon. I've got all the stuff that I need to take care of, culminating with hiring a new general manager.”