TALKING POINTS: Jeff Jackson speaks after Day 1 of Free Agency | Edmonton Oilers

Jackson on the reinstating of Stan Bowman by the NHL on Monday and his candidacy for the Oilers’ vacant GM position:

“To be honest, I was so busy today that I only heard about it when we finished up some of the things we were trying to get done, so I haven’t really thought about it. Stan’s obviously a long-time GM, a successful one, and the NHL reinstated all three of the guys today. I’m running a bit on fumes here because of the schedule with the playoffs and then the draft and free agency, so I haven’t given any of it any thought, to be honest. I’ve got to sort of decompress for a couple of days, but then I’ve got to move forward with my GM search. So to be honest, I can’t comment right now.”

Jackson on a deep run to the Stanley Cup Final by the Oilers resulting in more free agents wanting to sign with Edmonton this offseason:

“It helps to go to the Final for sure, but at the end of the day, there are two things I sort of see:

“We’ve got players like Connor, Leon, Hyms, Nuge, Nursey, Ekky, and Bouch who are great players and great teammates. We’ve got a great group and that goes around the League, so players know that. And then, the players that are here and we re-sign, they know it. They’ve lived it, and I just want to say that Ken Holland built a really good culture here over the last five years – a winning culture. It becomes a destination in many ways, and when the team is as competitive as we are, that clearly helps. So it’s a combination of things I think.”

Jackson on the short to mid-range contracts given out by club on July 1:

“I think it’s sometimes the player’s preference is to do a short-term deal just based on timing and stuff. The guys that we did today, that just aligned with our ability to manage the cap and project out into the next two or three years. So to get a deal done with anybody, all of that stuff has to align and that’s sort of what happened today with all the guys that we were going to bring back like Brownie, Janny and [Perry]. Then the guys that we brought in, that they wanted those sorts of deals, so it worked out well.

Jackson on the sense of community within the Oilers locker room that’s boosting the attraction of Edmonton for potential free agents:

“I think it’s critical. To go as far as we did and then have players scatter, that’s tough. That’s always tough, and I think these guys all believe in their teammates. They’re an extremely close group of guys, a tight-knit group, which to me is probably one of the most important elements to having a team that can win. ‘How much do you love your teammates? Because you’ll do anything for them’, and that’s the way our group was. So all those guys coming back tells me everything I need to know about this team and we’re happy to have all those guys back. It’s great.”

Jackson on signing trade-deadline acquisition Adam Henrique to stay in Edmonton:

“I would say we’re still working on that. It’s to be determined, so we would love to have him back. We just have to find a way to do it. I’m sure he’s got interest from other teams. He’s an outstanding individual and he’s a very good player. A veteran player. So we’re working on it, but we’re not at the finish line yet. We’ll see how that goes.”