Is Jackson going to overhaul the dev system.. that seems to be an issue.... of draft and develop... you want players to develop to their strengths
Basically, yes. They hired Kalle Larsson as their senior director of player development. Larsson spent 9 years in the USHL helping the Dubuque Fighting Saints from a player personal role where he did such a good job that he was promoted to GM and then even president of hockey operations. We've already seen Larsson impact the Oilers as he knew Matt Savoie incredibly well and Dubuque drafted him where he put up 38 points in 34 USHL games. As a 16-year-old he was 4th in team scoring and actually had one of the best +/-'s on the team which is pretty impressive. I actually think grabbing Savoie might have been the writing on the wall for Bourgault.
This comes after the Oilers parting ways with their old director of scouting Tyler Wright who worked a lot with Ken Holland. Wright focused a lot on goal scoring and size - he likes natural athletes (Broberg and Holloway) but ill get to that in a second. We've replaced Wright with a much more analytically focused scout in Rick Pracey. Pracey focuses a lot on development curves and acknowledging that different types of players develop differently and have different kinds of paths to the NHL.
Also, with Jackson at the helm, the Oilers have been very active with their moves. We saw them trade in the 1st round to go and get a prospect that their scouts liked. He isn't afraid to make moves and listen to the guys in the room. Jackson saw the Oilers pipeline as an issue and went to work to try and immediately correct it. Keith Gretzky is also overseeing our minor league team and apparently, they wanted Bourgault to come in stronger this season, but he hasn't done that.
Basically, you can see the Oilers management group having their fingerprints all over these moves. I think it could be a great opportunity for Bourgault to play closer to home and develop with some more talented linemates in a more offensive setting. I'll be rooting for XB. I always kinda of saw him being a giroux-lite if he ends up making it.