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Oilers Sign Brendan Perlini

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The Oilers have added some forward depth, announcing that they have signed winger Brendan Perlini to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay the NHL minimum of $750K while the AHL salary was not released.

It has been a bit of an odd journey for the 25-year-old so far.  Drafted 12th overall by Arizona in 2014, Perlini showed some offensive upside early in his career, notching 14 goals in his rookie season and 17 in his sophomore campaign.  A sluggish start in 2018-19 resulted in a trade to Chicago where he picked up a dozen more tallies in 46 games.

He was never really able to lock down a spot though and early in 2019-20, he was flipped to Detroit where the production dried up entirely as Perlini had just one goal and three helpers in 39 games, numbers that led to a non-tender last fall.  Rather than accept a two-way deal, Perlini went overseas and signed with Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland where he had a decent campaign with nine goals and seven assists in 21 games, good enough for seventh in team scoring despite missing more than half the season.

Perlini is an interesting fit for Edmonton.  The Oilers are a team that will need to fill out their roster with some cheaper contracts while having more on hand in the minors for recalls.  There’s definitely enough a track record to suggest that Perlini could rebound offensively and be a serviceable contributor in the bottom six but with how things went in Detroit, it’s possible he rarely sees the ice for him.  Still, there is rarely a bad two-way contract and this one certainly will carry a little bit of upside for Edmonton.

Darnell Nurse Signs Eight-Year Extension

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The Edmonton Oilers may have lost Adam Larsson to the Seattle Kraken, but won’t be letting Darnell Nurse get anywhere close to free agency. The team has signed their top defenseman to an eight-year contract extension, which, when added to the one-year he has left on his current deal, keeps him locked up through the 2029-30 season. Nurse’s average annual value will increase to $9.25MM for the 2022-23 season, giving him the fifth-highest cap hit among NHL defensemen, coming in just below the recent extensions for Zach Werenski and Seth Jones.

Nurse, 26, was the seventh-overall selection in the 2013 draft, picked three spots behind Jones and just ahead of Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen. During his 406 regular season games, he has recorded 157 points and averaged more than 22 minutes of ice time. Both of those numbers have increased dramatically recently though, with Nurse recording an outstanding 16-goal, 36-point campaign in 2020-21. That was good enough for seventh in the Norris Trophy race, the first time he had received votes for the award.

This is betting that the increased level of play Nurse showed this year will continue, but it’s also locking up a player who has never wavered in his commitment to the Oilers. The team has had trouble keeping or attracting premium free agents in the past, which Nurse would have represented had he been allowed to play out this season. He was scheduled for UFA status in the summer of 2022, where teams from all over the league likely would have offered large, long-term deals.

Still, this bet comes with a ton of risk for Edmonton. Nurse has never had very strong defensive metrics, and though he adds a lot of the things teams covet—size, skating ability, physicality and offense—it hasn’t resulted in any real success for the Oilers. He’s played just 21 postseason games during his career, 13 of those coming in the 2016-17 season and four being the qualification round from 2020. All of that has come when Nurse was making quite a bit less than he will be going forward, meaning he’ll have to improve his play to provide any real excess value for Edmonton.

Of course, there is quite a bit of money coming off the books for the Oilers next season. Mikko Koskinen’s $4.5MM cap hit will expire, as will contracts for both Kyle Turris and Kris Russell. After the 2022-23 season the team will no longer be paying Milan Lucic (retained) and Andrej Sekera (buyout) to not play for them. A deal of this magnitude doesn’t put them in cap hell, but it certainly will restrict what they can do with that extra space.

The question now is how the rest of the blueline will look in Edmonton this season, with newcomers Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci joining the fray. The team has its presumed top-four locked up through at least the 2022-23 season, though the emergence of Evan Bouchard as a difference-maker while still on his entry-level deal would certainly help.

By next season Nurse will become the second-highest paid player on the Oilers, surpassing the $8.5MM that Leon Draisaitl’s contract carries through 2024-25. That comes with plenty of expectations, especially on a team that has also has the best player in the world. With this much money being handed out, there will have to be some postseason success and it’ll have to come soon.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Oilers Working On Max-Term Extension For Darnell Nurse

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  • In the same podcast, Friedman reports that the Oilers are now focused on a max-term extension for defenseman Darnell Nurse. Previously, the expectation was a medium-term deal but with Dougie Hamilton’s contract with New Jersey setting the market, a long-term pact in the $9MM range appears to be the target for the 26-year-old who is coming off his top season that saw him collect 16 goals and 20 assists in 56 games while logging over 25 minutes a night.

Patrick Russell Signs In Sweden

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Another one of the Edmonton Oilers’ unrestricted free agent forwards has found a new home. Patrick Russell has signed a two-year contract with Linkoping HC of the SHL, returning to the program he played for in junior.

Russell, 28, suited up just eight times for the Oilers this season, registering two assists. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of St. Cloud State, the Danish forward ended up playing 59 games over the last three years with Edmonton. Amazingly, he failed to record a single goal despite generating 76 shots on net. If he fails to return to North America, his NHL career will end with zero goals and seven points.

For years now, the Oilers have been trying to find a mix of forwards that can give Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl some help. With the additions of Zach Hyman, Warren Foegele, and Derek Ryan, they’ll try again to make a more balanced attack. Russell, who was a strong player for the Bakersfield Condors when in the minor leagues, will end up back overseas after failing to fill one of those bottom-six roles.

Oilers Re-Sign Warren Foegele

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After acquiring Warren Foegele earlier this week, the Oilers wasted little time getting him signed, announcing that they’ve inked him to a three-year deal that carries a cap hit of $2.75MM.  He was tendered a $2.25MM qualifying offer at the beginning of the week.

The 25-year-old was acquired from Carolina in exchange for defenseman Ethan Bear, a deal that opened up a spot for Edmonton to turn around and sign Cody Ceci while also giving them some grit on the wing.  Last season, Foegele played in 53 games for the Hurricanes, notching 10 goals and 10 assists while averaging a career-high 14:09 per game.  He was a little quieter in the playoffs, however, scoring just once while adding a single assist in their ten postseason contests.

Foegele had made it known that he was hoping to have a chance at playing a bigger role and he could get that opportunity with Edmonton.  The Oilers have used Zack Kassian in the top six at times to add some grit on their scoring lines and Foegele could conceivably fill that role with a bit more consistency.  If that happens, a $2.75MM price tag could turn into a team-friendly deal fairly quickly.

The contract buys out the remaining two years of RFA eligibility as well as Foegele’s first season of UFA eligibility.  He was eligible to file for arbitration tomorrow but that won’t be needed now.  Meanwhile, Edmonton is down to just one regular player as an RFA in winger Kailer Yamamoto who is not arbitration-eligible.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that the deal was close.

Derek Ryan Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers have added some center depth, signing Derek Ryan to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1.25MM.

Ryan, 34, is just taking a quick trip up Highway 2, leaving one side of the Battle of Alberta for the other. He spent the last three seasons with the Calgary Flames, providing strong defensive play from the bottom-six and even chipping in some offense now and again. In 43 games this season he scored just two goals and 13 points, but is still a valuable enough player because of the position he fills.

For Edmonton, he’ll essentially be replacing Jujhar Khaira, who signed a similar two-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks today. The team has some elite center options at the top of the lineup, but has struggled to find consistent play out of the bottom two spots. Leon Draisaitl was also the only strong player in the faceoff circle for the Oilers, something Ryan has excelled at his entire career. He has won 55.4% of his ~3,500 NHL draws, with a huge chunk of them coming in the defensive zone or on the penalty kill.

GM Ken Holland has always targeted role players like that to fill the bottom-six, and Ryan fits right into that mold as someone who might not play a ton but can do specific things well. The fact that he also had a career-high 38 points in 2018-19 doesn’t hurt.

Edmonton Oilers To Sign Cody Ceci

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As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have added Cody Ceci to the mix according to Darren Dreger of TSN. The veteran defenseman has signed a four-year deal that will carry an average annual value of $3.25MM. The Oilers moved out Ethan Bear earlier today to make room for Ceci and the re-signed Tyson Barrie.

The Oilers are hoping that having Barrie and Ceci lead the right side of their defense works out better than it did for the Toronto Maple Leafs not long ago. Obviously, the team is already familiar with Barrie, but they are taking a risk on Ceci. Edmonton is banking on Ceci playing like he did this past season in Pittsburgh for the next four years and not like how he played in Toronto and Ottawa before that. The Penguins succeeded with Ceci in not asking him to do too much and letting him focus on just playing competent defense in limited minutes and against less difficult match-ups. At $3.25MM and on a longer term deal than any other Edmonton defense, it does not seem like the Oilers plan to let Ceci sit back and play a depth role. They risk poor results if they push him into too great a role, trying to replace the departed Adam Larsson, which could make this a difficult contract for the team.

Ceci, 27, may have learned enough from his season in Pittsburgh that he can try again at serving in a top-four role. Ceci averaged 21:25 per game through his first six full NHL seasons, during which time he was a combined -48 rating. This year, he played just 18:31 per game and earned a +18 rating. While moving the puck will likely never be a strength of Ceci’s, perhaps he is ready to take on more of a shutdown approach if handed more minutes. How the Oilers choose to use Ceci will almost certainly dictate whether he is able to succeed in Edmonton.

Ethan Bear Traded To Carolina Hurricanes

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The Edmonton Oilers are expected to re-sign Tyson Barrie and add another right-handed defenseman in Cody Ceci, so they needed to move out someone else. That player is Ethan Bear, who Darren Dreger of TSN reports is on his way to the Carolina Hurricanes. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Hurricanes will send Warren Foegele back to Edmonton.

Bear, 24, looked like he would be a long-term pillar of the blueline for the Oilers in 2019-20, but last season took a significant step backward. He scored just two goals and eight points in 43 games while losing the trust of the coaching staff at times. In Carolina, he won’t be asked to do as much given the strong group ahead of him, but can help replace some of the minutes that they are losing in Dougie Hamilton. Bear actually could perhaps slide into the top-four alongside a player like Brady Skjei, but still likely won’t log anywhere near the minutes of Carolina’s top three options.

For the Oilers, adding another bottom-six winger that can score at a strong rate is a win, at least if considered independent from Bear’s potential upside. There’s real talent in the 25-year-old Foegele, who has 50 points in his last 121 games. Edmonton has struggled to find any consistent offense from the third and fourth line over the last number of years, but are starting to lengthen out their lineup behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Even if Zach Hyman ends up playing on one of the top two lines, there appears to be the makings of a legitimate third line finally.

Still, the Oilers will need to sign Foegele as he currently sits as a restricted free agent. He’s coming off a one-year, $2.15MM contract with the Hurricanes, meaning that’s the price of his qualifying offer. That means he’s locked in as a player the Oilers will have to rely on, especially if arbitration results in another raise.

Zach Hyman Has Agreement In Place With Edmonton Oilers

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July 28: Per PuckPedia, the breakdown of the deal is as follows:

2021-22: $1.55MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2022-23: $5.1MM salary
2023-24: $7.65MM salary
2024-25: $7.7MM salary
2025-26: $5.425MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2026-27: $2.175MM salary, $3MM signing bonus
2027-28: $2.65MM salary, $1.25MM signing bonus

The deal contains a full no-move clause in the first five seasons and a 21-team no-trade clause in the final two years.

July 24: The Oilers and Maple Leafs could not reach an agreement, according to Darren Dreger of TSN, so Hyman will wait to sign his contract when free agency opens on Wednesday. That limits the deal to seven years in length. Dreger also reports that the cap hit on a seven-year deal is $5.5MM.

July 23: After weeks of speculation, The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan reports that the Edmonton Oilers have a contract agreement in place with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman. Whether or not the deal is a sign-and-trade or just an acquisition of rights remains to be seen, but it’s extremely likely at this point that the Oilers will be acquiring Hyman via trade prior to free agency opening July 28th.

Recent rumors would suggest that when all is said and done, Hyman will be signing a seven- or eight-year deal in Edmonton. Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reported yesterday that the cap hits on both deals would come in at around $5MM. Hyman has displayed the ability over the past few seasons to be one of the best complementary players in the NHL, something that could work wonders for their secondary scoring. Potentially playing on Edmonton’s top line with Connor McDavid and Jesse Puljujarvi has to be an extremely exciting prospect for Hyman, who’s likely getting more term and money in Edmonton than Toronto was ever prepared to offer him.

Toronto’s search to find a new top-six-caliber left-winger begins now if it hasn’t already. They’ve been linked in past weeks to Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who’d come much cheaper to the team than Hyman realistically ever would have. There’s also the long-shot big name in Gabriel Landeskog, who’s becoming estranged from the Colorado Avalanche in contract talks and could be looking for a new home. Regardless, the Maple Leafs have to look forward without Hyman, who’s been a core part of this team’s rise to regular-season success over the past half-decade.

Oilers Nearing New Contract With Tyson Barrie

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After Adam Larsson opted not to stay with Edmonton and instead signed with Seattle as their expansion pick, the Oilers quickly turned their focus towards retaining Tyson Barrie.  TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that the two sides are nearing an agreement on a new three-year contract.  TSN’s Ryan Rishaug adds (Twitter link) that the deal is expected to carry an AAV of $4.5MM.

The 30-year-old entered the free agent market a year ago coming off a disappointing season with Toronto and wasn’t able to get the money or term he was seeking.  Instead, he opted to take a one-year pillow contract in the hopes of rebuilding his value.  Barrie picked the Oilers as the team for that contract, a logical decision with the potential to pile up the assists setting up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.  It was a wise choice.

Barrie led all NHL defensemen in scoring this season with 48 points in 56 games, helping earn him the fifth slot in our Top 50 UFA list.  It was the fifth time in the past seven years that he had at least that many points, making him one of the best and most consistent threats from the back end in the offensive zone in the league.  However, his defensive struggles have been well-documented as he basically gives back some of the goals he helps produce in the form of poor mistakes that land in the back of the net.

Nevertheless, having a prominent offensive weapon is never a bad thing to have and with the term being limited to three years, there shouldn’t be a considerable drop in effectiveness over the life of the contract.  Edmonton’s power play should continue to be lethal for the foreseeable future as a result of this contract.

Meanwhile, assuming this deal gets finalized along with the long-expected signing of Zach Hyman, the bulk of the heavy lifting will be done for GM Ken Holland as those two contracts will take up most of the rest of their projected $13.7MM in cap space, per CapFriendly.  However, with Oscar Klefbom’s playing future remaining in doubt, he looks like a candidate for LTIR once again which would give Edmonton a bit more flexibility to try to add another piece in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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