NHL Rumors: Who Will Handle Extension Talks With Draisaitl, McDavid and Bouchard?

Will the next Edmonton Oilers have to prioritize extensions for Leon Draisaitl and eventually Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard?

Sportsnet: Tom Gazzola on Sportsnet 960 radio when asked how important the Edmonton Oilers GM's hiring was in terms of contract extensions finally being done for Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard. Will that be his priority or will someone else handle that?

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Host: “How important is this hiring of the next GM to Jeff Jackson, Tom, in the sense that, yes we know (Leon) Draisaitl is up but Connor is in the corner. And oh, I think Evan Bouchard will want to cash in on that $3.9 million. Like, is it too hyperbolic to say, the guy who comes in and has to work these deals is going to put a stamp on the next, decade of Oilers hockey somehow? “

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Gazzola: “I think it's natural to say that this is the next betting GM.

And I think it's not taken, for anybody that comes in as a GM, but I think that's where Jeff Jackson is going to have to be at his best and I think he understands that that's going to be his role to be the guy. sure the big dogs stay and can be a good wheel and dealer and they have to make sure you keep those guys happy and keep them here.

But the way things have turned out and the way the Oilers have worked over the past few weeks has shown us that this, the heavy lifting, and those contracts will likely be Jeff Jackson's priorities, not. freshman Evan Bouchard.

So, I don't, I really don't believe it's going to be the next GM that's going to be doing the main negotiations from the Oilers' point of view. I think it will be Jeff Jackson. I think Darrell Cates will be involved, mostly with Connor and Leon, and maybe a little bit of Paul Coffey. And it makes sure that whoever is the GM or coming in as the GM, you know, he might be there but I think this is Jeff Jackson's project and I think that's why Darrell Cates and Paul Coffey brought him in to make sure that the next ten years of this franchise. tightly guarded.

And that's proof of that, the new way of managing the NHL's front offices. We're starting to see the league and there's kind of this transition where the POHO (president of hockey) and the GM kind of work as a tandem. I mean, the Oilers don't have a president of hockey, they have CEO Jeff Jackson.

And you know, I point to the likes of Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford in Vancouver. He looked at the situation in Montreal, Gordon and Hughes there. And it's like tandems. Ken Kelly McCrimmon, and George McPhee in Vegas. Like, which guys really hit the shots or work as a team?

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I think that's kind of what we're going to see here and I think Jeff Jackson is going to be a guy that's going to be kind of the game. And like I said, his GM will be a sidekick and run with him to help him with the little day-to-day things. “