A petition to keep Jeff Jackson from being Oilers' GM

On June 27, one day before the draft, it was the end of an era in Edmonton.

Ken Holland, at the end of his contract, officially left the Oilers. He finished on a good note and a bad one: his team made it to the Stanley Cup Final, but unfortunately lost.

While waiting for the next GM to be hired, President of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson stepped in and did an exceptional job. His biggest coup: trading Ryan McLeod for Matthew Savoie.

Believe Matt Savoie is return. Ty Tullio also going to Sabres https://t.co/71fBCuyLFf

– Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 5, 2024

Not only did he free up $2.1 million with this trade, but he acquired a very talented prospect in Savoie. He also moved up in the 2024 draft to select Sam O’Reilly, a dominant 200-foot player.

Jackson also signed Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson and retained the services of Corey Perry, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. The Oilers’ attack is devastating so far.

Jackson, who wants nothing to do with the GM job, has done such a good job that his fans are asking him to become the full-time GM.

As reported in a piece in The Hockey News, a petition has even been created for him to take the interim tag off himself and halt his search for a new leader. At the time of writing, 758 people have signed the petition.

Not the highest number, but still considerable.

After all he’s accomplished, will partisan pressure get the better of him? Will he keep both roles? To be continued.

Overtime

– A true leader.

Erik Johnson confirms he’s been communicating with Matvei Michkov on Instagram using a translation app to answer any questions he has about coming to the U.S. and the NHL. Definition of a leader. #LetsGoFlyers

– Siobhan Nolan (@SGNolan) July 11, 2024