After inking Jakub Jerabek yesterday to a one-year contract, the Oilers don’t appear to be finished shopping for defensive help in free agency. Postmedia’s Jim Matheson reports (Twitter link) that Edmonton has offered a tryout deal to Brandon Davidson, who is also currently sitting on multiple two-way offers. At this point, it’s likely that Davidson is still hoping to land a one-way pact before committing to something else.
The 27-year-old has had two separate stints with the Oilers previously. After dealing him to Montreal in February of 2017, they claimed him off waivers from the Canadiens last December. Three months later, they flipped him to the Islanders in exchange for a 2019 third-round pick. Given how he has bounced around though, Davidson may be hard-pressed to get a one-way contract but if he has to go the PTO route, going back to a place where he’s had success in Edmonton would be a good move.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- The Canucks are a team that has used PTO deals in training camp in recent years but Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma reports that this will not be the case, at least as things currently stand. Vancouver shored up their depth up front this summer with a trio of bottom-six signings while they have eight returning defensemen so the vacancies just aren’t there. While some teams will bring in tryouts simply to help fill out the roster through the early goings of the preseason, it doesn’t appear that Vancouver will be among those.
- The Coyotes have parted ways with director of amateur scouting Tim Bernhardt as well as veteran scout Rob Pulford, GM John Chayka confirmed to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. Bernhardt has been at the helm for the last five drafts where the team has landed regulars such as center Christian Dvorak, defenseman Jakob Chychrun, and winger Clayton Keller. Arizona brought in Lindsay Hofford as an assistant GM earlier this summer, tasking him with reshaping the scouting department as one of his tasks. Bernhardt told Morgan that working with the new direction was not something he wanted to do.