Oilers Sign Curtis Lazar To One-Year Deal

The Oilers have signed free agent center Curtis Lazar to a one-year contract, according to a team announcement.

Lazar will earn the league minimum $775K salary on a one-way deal, the team said. That’s a necessity for the cap-strapped Oilers, who only had $950,834 in cap space with one open roster spot before making the move, per PuckPedia. They’re now effectively barred from making any NHL-oriented UFA signings unless they clear a salary, although they can technically exceed the salary cap by 10% over the offseason.

Lazar, 30, joins his seventh team in 12 NHL seasons. He spent the 2024-25 season with the Devils, one of two clubs, along with the Flames, for which he’s logged at least 100 appearances. A knee injury limited the established fourth-liner to 48 appearances, scoring just two goals and three assists for five points while averaging 10:34 per game and going 51.3% on faceoffs. He’s taking a pay cut to return to Edmonton, where he played his junior hockey with the WHL’s Oil Kings, after earning a $1MM salary for the past three seasons.

Despite his most recent sample looking rocky, Lazar offers good upside for his price tag in a fourth-line role for Edmonton. He’s one year removed from a career-high 18 assists and 25 points in Jersey and has shown the ability to comfortably average 12-13 minutes per game in the past, offering the Oilers stability down the middle as a more appealing fourth-line pivot over depth piece Noah Philp or natural winger Mattias Janmark.

Image courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.