Ekblad will be highly coveted free agent if he hits the open market following the 24-25 season
The Edmonton Oilers became the latest team to add a former player agent to its front office, announcing Thursday that Jeff Jackson had been named CEO of Hockey Operations.
Jackson went from an NHL front office to launching his own agency in 2010 and helping build Wasserman Hockey, where he’s worked and represented several star players, including Connor McDavid and Aaron Ekblad.
With Jackson now moving back to the team side, it begs the question of what will happen with his clients in terms of representation.
Regarding Ekblad, THN has learned that he’ll be remaining with Wasserman Hockey, per source.
Agents Judd Moldaver and Dave Gagner (Yes, the same Dave Gagner who played 114 games over two seasons with the Panthers back in the late 90s) will both work with Ekblad, at least for the time being.
It’s notable because Ekblad is only two seasons away from being a 29-year-old unrestricted free agent.
Not only should he be an extremely coveted blueliner on the open market, if he chooses to go that route, he’ll be doing so at a time the salary cap is finally rising at a steady rate.
Ekblad came into the league represented by Orr Hockey Group, as in Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr, who founded the firm in 2002.
Wasserman acquired a large stake of Orr Hockey in 2018, and with that came McDavid and Ekblad.
So while Ekblad has been directly represented by a few different agents over the years, he’s arguably been with the same firm throughout.
For his sake, hopefully that synergy will make the upcoming negotiation process for Ekblad’s next deal be that much smoother of an experience, at least on his side of the table.