BOSTON—There was no doubt some excitement in Boston, but also in Sandfield on October 25 as Jackson Edward, who has strong family ties to Manitoulin Island signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL).
“Oh, just a bit,” proud grandmother Isobel Edward of Sandfield said in describing her excitement at the news. “I have been texting and calling everyone. I’m very excited. I was crying when I got the news.”
“There is a lot of stress on all of these kids who are trying to get into the NHL,” said Ms. Edward. “For all kids who play hockey this is their dream. And hockey is all that he (Jackson) ever thinks about, ever since he was a little kid.” By signing the contract with the Bruins, “he is on his way.”
On the Boston Bruins website it states, “Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney announced today, October 25, that the team has signed defenceman Jackson Edward to a three-year entry-level contract with an annual NHL cap hit of $860,000.”
Mr. Edward, who is 19, spent the 2022-2023 season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), totaling five goals and 20 assists for 25 points with a plus-17 rating. The 6-foot-2, 193-pound defenseman skated in 54 games with the London Knights in 2021-2022, tallying six assists.
The Newmarket native was originally selected by Boston in the seventh round (200th pick overall) of the 2022 NHL entry draft.
Ms. Edward told The Expositor previously the Edward family originally came to the Island almost 150 years ago. “Tom, my (late) husband was born in Sandfield. The Island has been the go-to place for the entire Edward family. Jackson loves to come here, and he has a brother and a sister, they are all into athletics. Jackson has been visiting the Island since he was born and his dad the same, since he was born. My husband was from Sudbury and came here at two weeks of age.”
“Jackson comes up here about a week each year and then he goes back to Boston for training. And this year he has been back and forth from London to Boston training and playing hockey,” added Ms. Edward.
