Dresden’s Jeff Jackson leads Oilers to Stanley Cup final

Courtesy NHL.com
Jeff Jackson

A former rinkrat at the old Dresden Arena has led the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup final.

Dresden resident Jeff Jackson was named as the Edmonton Oilers CEO in August of 2023. It has been a whirlwind of a season for Jackson, who was Oilers captain Connor McDavid’s long-time agent prior to taking the Oilers CEO job.

When he was hired by the Oilers, Jackson said he felt the team was on the verge of some great years. The Oilers struggled early in the season and at one point were last in the NHL standings. The team replaced head coach Jay Woodcroft with Kris Knoblauch. The Oilers responded with a 16-game winning streak.

In the playoffs, the Oilers have won series against the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and the Dallas Stars. The Oilers start the finals on the road Saturday against the Florida Panthers.

In his role as CEO, the 59 year-old Jackson serves as an Alternate Governor on the NHL Board of Governors. He will oversee all aspects of the Oiler’s NHL, AHL and WHL hockey operations.

Married with four children, Jackson was a high NHL draft pick, going 28th overall in 1983, and playing 263 NHL games.

Following an eight year professional playing career playing in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques and Chicago Blackhawks, Jackson attended law school at Western University in London, obtaining his law degree in 1996. He then practiced corporate and entertainment law with a national law firm (Heenan Blaikie) in Toronto for eight years.

In 2006, Jeff joined the Toronto Maple Leafs front office. During his time with the Leafs, he was the team’s Assistant GM and Director of Hockey Operations while simultaneously acting at the GM and Governor of the AHL Toronto Marlies affiliate.

In 2010, he left the Maple Leafs and started his own player representation firm. His first NHL client was Oiler, Sam Gagner. Gagner’s dad Dave Gagner was a former NHL player and is from Chatham-Kent.

In 2011, Jackson joined the Orr Hockey Group LLP and several years later in 2018, that entity was acquired by Wasserman Media Group. Jeff has been an instrumental part of growing Wasserman Hockey into a powerful and respected agency in the hockey business, with such high profile players as Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Roman Josi and many others.