(Last updated: July 12)
The offseason is officially underway, and there’s lots of news and notes regarding the Edmonton Oilers and the summer of 2017. Edmonton will be very busy trying to get their roster in place for the 2017-18 season that kicks off on October 4. The biggest pieces of business for the Oilers and general manager Peter Chiarelli is to get Leon Draisaitl, and Connor McDavid signed to lucrative long-term deals.
Edmonton has already signed another key free agent, whether you like it or not, in defenseman Kris Russell. The Oilers will likely be in the market for a short-term solution on defense, and possibly some power play help. An additional defenseman would help cushion the blow of Andrej Sekera missing the first half of the season as he recovers from knee surgery. Outside of maybe some depth moves, don’t expect Edmonton to try to hit a homerun with some of the bigger names on the free agent market.
Other News & Notes
All teams can start talking to free agents as of June 25, but they can’t officially sign any contracts until July 1. Teams can, however, tender qualifying offers to their restricted free agents. Edmonton tendered offers to Leon Draisaitl, Joey Laleggia, Dillon Simpson, and Bogdan Yakimov. They elected not to tender qualifying offers to David Musil, Zach Pochiro, and Henrik Samuelsson. They are now considered unrestricted free agents (UFA’s).
The NHL Expansion Draft took place on June 17, and the Oilers lost defenseman Griffin Reinhart in the process. This ends a tumultuous time for the former fourth overall pick in 2012. Reinhart, 23, played just 29 regular games for the Oilers but was a fixture on the Condors top-pairing in the minors. There’s still time for him to bounce back as a prospect, but for Edmonton, they paid a hefty price a few years ago when they acquired him and won’t recoup any substantial return for that expense.
The first window for player buyouts was open from June 15-30. The Oilers have officially bought out the contract of Benoit Pouliot. Another buyout candidate for the second buyout window is Mark Fayne. He was demoted to the Oilers AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, last season. He has one year remaining at $3.5 million left, but a buyout would cost $2.3 million, or $1.16 million annually for two seasons.
It’s a busy offseason, but we’ve got you covered with all the latest news and notes regarding the Oilers offseason moves.
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Draft Picks
1st Round, 22nd Overall – Kailer Yamamoto (RW). Yamamoto scored 42 goals and 99 points with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. He finished sixth in WHL scoring.
3rd Round, 78th Overall – Stuart Skinner (G). Skinner recorded a 3.26 goals-against average, and a 0.905 save percentage in 60 games with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes.
3rd Round, 84th Overall – Dmitri Samorukov (D). Samorukov scored four goals and 20 points in 67 games with the OHL’s Guelph Storm.
4th Round, 115th Overall – Ostap Safin (RW). Safin scored six goals and 18 points in 24 games with Sparta Jr in the Czech Republic junior league.
5th Round, 146th Overall – Kirill Maksimov (RW). Maksimov scored 21 goals and 38 points in 66 games split between the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit and Niagara Ice Dogs.
6th Round, 177th Overall – Skyler Brind’Amour (C). Brind’Amour scored 19 goals and 50 points in 48 games for Selects Academy. Will join the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs next season.
7th Round, 298th Overall – Philip Kemp (D). Kemp scored five goals and 13 points in 64 games with the US National Development team.
Trades
June 22 – Oilers traded Jordan Eberle (RW) to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome (RW). The 23-year-old Strome scored 13 goals and 30 points in 69 games in 2016-17. He comes with a $2.5 million cap hit and is a restricted free agent (RFA) next summer.
Entry-Level Contracts (ELC) Signings
March 1 – Ryan Mantha (D) signed a three-year contract, with a $870,000 cap hit. Mantha, 20, was an undrafted free agent and captain of the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs. He scored 17 goals and 58 points in 65 games last season. He’s already suited up in two AHL games for the Condors.
March 28 – Joe Gambardella (C) signed a two-year deal, with a $725,000 cap hit. Gambardella, 23, was a college free agent and scored 18 goals and 52 points in 41 games with the NCAA’s UMass-Lowell. He also appeared in six games with the Condors last season and scored three points.
April 7 – William Lagesson (D) signed a three-year deal, with a $741,667 cap hit. Lagesson, 21, was the Oilers fourth-round pick in 2014 and played the last two seasons with UMass (Amherst). Last season he scored eight points in 36 games and has been loaned by the Oilers to Djurgardens IF in Sweden for 2017-18.
April 10 – Ziyat Paigin (D) signed a two-year deal, with a $858,750 cap hit. Paigin, 22, was Edmonton’s seventh-round pick in 2015 and emerged as a potential star playing for the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan. He played five games for the Condors at the end of the 2016-17 season.
April 10 – Shane Starrett (G) signed a two-year deal, with a $817,500 cap hit. Starrett, 22, was a college free agent playing for Air Force Academy and held a 1.99 goals-against average, and a 0.925 save percentage in 37 games last season. He’ll likely backup Nick Ellis on the Condors in 2017-18.
May 17 – Dylan Wells (G) signed a three-year deal, with a $759,167 cap hit. Wells, 19, was the Oilers fifth-round pick in 2016 and posted a 3.07 goals-against average, and a 0.916 save percentage with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. He’ll return to the Petes for 2017-18.
UFA Signings
June 23 – Kris Russell (D) re-signed a four-year deal, with a $4 million cap hit.
July 27 – Eric Gryba (D) re-signed with Edmonton. Gryba’s new deal is a two-year term worth $900,000 per season.
July 1 – Ty Rattie (RW) signed a one-year deal, with a $700,000 cap hit. The 24-year-old is an RFA at the end of the deal with arbitration rights.
July 1 – Mitch Callahan (RW) signed a two-year deal with a $700,000 cap hit. The 25-year-old’s deal is a two-way deal.
July 1 – Keegan Lowe (D) signed a one-year deal with a$650,000 cap hit. The 24-year-old’s deal is a two-way deal.
July 1 – Ed Pasquale (G) signed a one-year deal with a $700,000 cap hit. The 26-year-old’s deal is a two-way deal.
July 1 – Ryan Stanton (D) signed a two-year deal with a $700,000 cap hit.
July 1 – Grayson Downing (C) signed a one-year deal with a $650,000 cap hit. The 25-year-old is waiver-exempt.
July 1 – Brian Ferlin (RW) signed a one-year deal with a $650,000 cap hit.
July 2 – Brad Malone (LW) signed a two-year deal, with a $650,000 cap hit.
July 7 – Jussi Jokinen (RW) signed a one-year deal, with a $1.1 million cap hit.
July 10 – Yohann Auvitu (D) signed a one-year deal, with a $700,000 cap hit.
Oilers Pending UFA’s:
Justin Fontaine (RW), 29, scored 11 goals and 41 points in 65 AHL games.
Mark Fraser (D), 30, scored six points in 65 AHL games.
Matt Hendricks (LW), 35, scored seven points in 42 NHL games.
David Musil (D), 24, scored four goals, 18 points in 60 AHL games. Wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer, now considered a UFA.
Zack Pochiro (LW), 23, scored three goals and 27 points in 42 ECHL games. Wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer, now considered a UFA.
Henrik Samuelsson (RW), 23, scored two goals and three points in 25 AHL games. Wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer, now considered a UFA.
RFA Signings
May 20 – Iiro Pakarinen (RW) signed a one-year deal, with a $725,000 cap hit.
June 16 – Jujhar Khaira (LW) signed a two-year deal, with a $675,000 cap hit.
June 26 – Zack Kassian (RW) signed a three-year deal, with a $1.95 million cap hit.
Oilers Remaining RFA’s:
Leon Draisaitl (C), 21, scored 29 goals and 77 points in 82 NHL games.
Joey LaLeggia (LW), 24, scored 20 goals and 38 points in 67 AHL games. Tendered qualifying offer.
Dillon Simpson (D), 24, scored three goals and 11 points in 53 AHL games.
Buyouts
June 29 – Benoit Pouliot (LW) was placed on unconditional waivers and bought out after he cleared. Pouliot had signed a five-year $20 million dollar deal in July 2014 and had two seasons left on that contract. The Oilers will pay $5.3 million over the next four seasons at a cost of $1.33 million per season.
Departures
May 4 – Jonas Gustavsson (G) signed with Linkoping HC in Sweden.
May 12 – Jere Sallinen (RW) signed with Orebro HK in Sweden.
May 25 – Anton Lander (C) signed with the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan.
June 12 – Eetu Laurikainen (G) signed a two-year deal with JYP in Finland.
July 1 – Benoit Pouliot (LW) after being bought out by the Oilers, Pouliot signed a one-year, $1.15 million dollar deal with the Buffalo Sabres.
July 1 – Tyler Pitlick (RW) signed with the Dallas Stars. Pitlick’s new contract is a three-year deal with a $1 million dollar cap hit.
July 1 – Jordan Oesterle (D) signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. Oesterle signed a two-year worth $650,000 per season. Believed to be a one-way deal.
July 4 – David Desharnais (C) signed with the New York Rangers. Desharnais’ new deal is for one-year at $1 million.
Organizational Depth Chart
|
GOALTENDERS |
LEFT DEFENSE |
RIGHT DEFENSE |
| Cam Talbot | Oscar Klefbom | Adam Larsson |
| Laurent Brossoit | Andrej Sekera | Kris Russell |
| Nick Ellis | Darnell Nurse | Matt Benning |
| Ed Pasquale | Eric Gryba | Ethan Bear |
| Shane Starrett | Yohann Auvitu | Ryan Mantha |
| Stuart Skinner (JR) | Ryan Stanton | Caleb Jones |
| Dylan Wells (JR) | Dillon Simpson | Ziyat Paigin |
| Eetu Laurikainen (EUR) | Keegan Lowe | Filip Berglund (EUR) |
| Ben Betker | William Lagesson (EUR) | |
| Markus Niemelainen (JR) | Matthew Cairns (JR) | |
| Dmitri Samorukov (JR) | Philip Kemp (COL) | |
| John Marino (COL) | Vincent Desharnais (JR) | |
|
LEFT WING |
CENTER |
RIGHT WING |
| Patrick Maroon | Connor McDavid | Leon Draisaitl |
| Milan Lucic | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Jesse Puljujarvi |
| Drake Caggiula | Ryan Strome | Anton Slepyshev |
| Jussi Jokinen | Mark Letestu | Zack Kassian |
| Jujhar Khaira | Joe Gambardella | Ty Rattie |
| Brad Malone | Grayson Downing | Iiro Pakarinen |
| Joey LaLeggia | Greg Chase | Mitch Callahan |
| Braden Christoffer | Kyle Platzer | Patrick Russell |
| Tyler Benson (JR) | Bogdan Yakimov (EUR) | Brian Ferlin |
| Graham McPhee (COL) | Aapeli Rasanen (COL) | Kailer Yamamoto (JR) |
| Tyler Vesel (COL) | Ostap Safin (JR) | |
| Skyler Brind’Amour (COL) | Kirill Maksimov (JR) | |
| Aidan Muir (COL) | ||