The Edmonton Oilers are in the market for a new GM as Ken Holland’s contract comes to an end

The Edmonton Oilers have a lot to do, and no general manager to help them do it.

The Oilers confirmed Thursday that Ken Holland will not be returning as GM after his five-year contract ran out.

Oilers chief executive officer of hockey operations Jeff Jackson says that had been the plan for the whole season, and that Thursday’s announcement was “not a surprise.”

But with the Oilers advancing to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final — Edmonton’s season finally ended with a 2-1 loss to Florida on Monday — Jackson finds the team “pushed to the end” with the NHL draft and free agency approaching and without a general manager.

“We knew that we were going to get handcuffed if we went far in the playoffs, because you can’t be having discussions about other general managers and asking for permission from other teams while we’re playing,” Jackson said in a video conference Thursday.

Jackson said he and Holland agreed to keep their discussion of the GM position private to ensure it didn’t become a distraction for the players.

“But now we move on,” Jackson said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.

“Our success this year put us in a spot where we don’t have a lot of time to do things and the league’s been operating while we were playing. We have our own unrestricted free agents to sign. We’ve got the draft. We’ve got free agency. I have to find a new general manager.”

And there is the future of star forward Leon Draisaitl, who is eligible to become a restricted free agent after next season.

Jackson said extension talks with Draisaitl won’t start before a new GM is in place, but he said he doesn’t feel a sense of urgency to get pen to paper with the 28-year-old German centre.

“He’s got another year on his contract,” Jackson said. “He likes playing in Edmonton. He likes the team, he likes the coaches.”

Jackson said he will act as the de facto GM until a replacement for Holland is found, but he is confident the Oilers will get through the upcoming crunch time with the front-office talent available.’

“We have a very capable group,” he said.

Jackson, who said he has “no intention” of being the Oilers permanent GM, said he has started reaching out to potential candidates to fill the role, but it’s a difficult time.

“People that I want to talk to are integral parts of other organizations, so I’m anticipating that I’m going to have to be a bit patient with that and get through these next few days.

“But I’m OK with that. I think that I want to do this the right way. I want to get the right…