Oilers Jeff Jackson comments hint towards two front runner GM candidates

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Ryan Hall
July 23, 2024 (8:49)

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A report has surfaced of two potential finalists who are in the running for the Oilers general manager's job.'

Current general manager and president of the Oilers Jeff Jackson is preparing to announce who he will select as the full-time general manager for the Oilers. To many Oilers fans Jackson would be the choice for them but he has made it clear that he has no desire to be the fulltime general manager even though he has done great moves throughout this summer.

Jackson revealed some key comments during the Bob McCowan podcast that aired on July 16th and it was noted of several key words that may show who he's looking for. One comment that caught many pundits' ears were the criteria he is looking for.

Jackson's comment about wanting someone who has «been in the league and been in an organization that has had success»

«there's teams that have won the Cup and their assistant GMs have done good jobs, so there are people that have gone that route and they've won, and they see they've done a great job in development.»

The report shows that two names may be emerging as finalists for this role. Firstly, Mark Hunter would be on this short list as he has had extensive work in the OHL and has helped run an extremely successful franchise in London.

He also has worked in the NHL when he was the assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and had been instrumental in selecting players during two of their drafts. He worked with Auston Matthews and spearheaded the draft of Mitch Marner over Noah Hanifin. Hunter has expressed desire to become the general manager of the Oilers and having worked with Jeff Jackson drafting two Knights recently makes him a strong viable candidate.

The second name that is emerging his former NHL player and current Director of Player development Stacy Roest. He has been a longstanding employee of the Tampa Bay Lightning who are a successful franchise.

There is much winning pedigree in their management team as much as the players on the ice and Roest has worked in hockey operations since 2013. Working as an assistant general manager and a general manager of a farm team ticks off another box that he has management experience.

It seems that Jackson is keen on hiring a new face to the organization rather than looking at older general managers that have worked with other teams.
It remains to be seen on who he will choose but these two names certainly seems plausible as it was mentioned in the report.

Source: Heavy Hockey.com

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