The Edmonton Oilers are signing forward Lane Pederson to a two-year, one-way deal worth $775K per season, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
The 25-year-old Saskatoon native is an accomplished AHL scorer who has scored around a point-per-game rate in the American League in recent seasons without much success in the NHL. He played for two NHL clubs last year and scored a combined six points in 27 games.
He has the versatility to play both center and wing and has been an alternate captain in earlier locations during his career, so his signing will be a major benefit to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, should he fail to make the team out of training camp and clear waivers.
While he was claimed off of waivers this past season that may not be as much of an issue at the start-of-season waiver period since significant injury issues down the middle were a significant motivator to Columbus placing their claim.
Teams are unlikely to be in similarly dire positions at the start of the season, meaning Pederson has a solid chance of starting the season in Bakersfield, where he’d instantly be among their most important players as well as a priority call-up option should the Oilers themselves run into some injury trouble.