While there won’t be many big contracts handed out during this current stoppage in the schedule, some teams haven’t shied away from handing out smaller deals. It appears that the Oilers could soon be one of them as TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports (Twitter link) that the team is expected to re-sign center Gaetan Haas. He is slated to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
The 28-year-old joined Edmonton as an undrafted free agent last summer after spending the previous decade in the Swiss NLA. While he showed some offensive potential in that league by picking up at least 33 points over his final three seasons there, that failed to translate to much NHL success as he has just five goals and five assists in 58 games while averaging 9:42 per night.
However, as someone that’s already familiar with Edmonton’s system, there would be some value to bringing him back for a deal that’s close to his $925K price tag. Their cap situation means that they will need to have several players on low-priced deals and they already know that he can hold his own on the fourth line or serve as injury insurance. However, after being waiver-exempt this season which Edmonton used to get him in a couple of games early on, he would need to clear waivers to go to AHL Bakersfield in 2020-21.