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Minor Free Agent Signings: Pacific Division

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With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Pacific Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.

Anaheim Ducks

none

Calgary Flames

G Devin Cooley (two years)
F Martin Frk (one year)

Edmonton Oilers

D Connor Carrick (one year)
G Collin Delia (one year)
F James Hamblin (two years)
D Noel Hoefenmayer (one year)
F Noah Philp (one year)

Los Angeles Kings

F Glenn Gawdin (two years)
F Tyler Madden (one year)
F Jack Studnicka (one year)
D Reilly Walsh (one year)

San Jose Sharks

D Lucas Carlsson (two years, $800K cap hit)
D Jimmy Schuldt (one year)

Seattle Kraken

F Brandon Biro (one year)
D Nikolas Brouillard (one year)
D Maxime Lajoie (one year)
F Mitchell Stephens (two years)

Vancouver Canucks

G Jiří Patera (one year)
F Nathan Smith (one year)

Vegas Golden Knights

F Zach Aston-Reese (one year)

Oilers Expected To Sign Adam Henrique

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The Oilers have made a couple of additions up front today with the signings of Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner while bringing back veteran wingers Connor Brown and Corey Perry as well.  It appears they have one more move to make at forward as TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that center Adam Henrique is expected to return to Edmonton.  The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta adds that the veteran will get a two-year deal, with Rishaug confirming a $3MM cap hit ($6MM total value).

A new deal for Henrique certainly makes the first-round pick Edmonton gave up for him at the trade deadline all the more worth it. After being acquired from the Ducks, the 34-year-old put up decent secondary scoring numbers but was a tad underwhelming, producing nine points in 22 games. That’s a 34-point pace over an 82-game season, less than he scored in only 60 games with Anaheim prior to the trade.

Henrique struggled with injuries in the playoffs, missing a few contests in Edmonton’s run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, but elevated his game when it mattered. He averaged important third-line minutes, logging 14:06 per game, and contributed four goals and three assists in 17 games with a +3 rating. Two of his goals were game-winners.

Now, despite having limited cap space, Edmonton’s already improved their forward group from the one that just got them within one goal of a championship. It’s fair to assume one player may be moved out, though. A $3MM cap hit for Henrique puts Edmonton roughly $2.5MM over the $88MM salary cap next season. Whether a cap-clearing trade comes via a forward or defenseman remains to be seen.

If Henrique produces closer to the 50-point pace he’d logged the past few years with the Ducks, even for just the first half of this new deal, it’s a bargain contract for Oilers acting GM Jeff Jackson. It’s clear the Oilers have no intention of doing anything but running it back next season with Leon Draisaitl entering the final year of his contract and Connor McDavid having only two years left on his deal.

With Arvidsson’s and Skinner’s additions (and Jackson saying publicly he expects them in the top six), Henrique will slot into a third-line role for the Oil next season, likely on Ryan McLeod’s wing.

Oilers Sign Jeff Skinner, Mattias Janmark, Troy Stecher

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6:30 p.m.: Edmonton is also seeing Mattias Janmark return on a three-year, $4.35MM contract, per Seravalli. It’ll cost them $1.45MM against the cap through 2026-27. The Swede is coming off a career-worst year offensively, limited to only four goals and 12 points in 75 games, but was a key part of an Edmonton penalty kill that clicked at 94.3% in the postseason. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal adds that depth defenseman Troy Stecher is returning on an undisclosed deal. Edmonton later confirmed Stecher’s deal is a two-year, $1.575MM pact ($787.5K cap hit).

5:49 p.m.: The Oilers are expected to add winger Jeff Skinner in free agency, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports. It’s a one-year deal worth $3MM, Seravalli adds.

Skinner, 32, became a UFA after the Sabres bought out the final three seasons of the eight-year, $72MM pact he signed back in 2019. He’s had varying results throughout the contract, which carried a $9MM cap hit and was coming off a middling 24 goals and 46 points in 74 games in 2023-24.

However, he did become one of the higher-ceiling options available on the market upon his buyout. That’s because he’s got a claim to fame that few other UFA wingers have – a 40-goal season under his belt. He’s also only one year removed from a career-high 82 points and +15 rating in 79 games with Buffalo.

And what better way to unlock that potential than putting him into an Oilers top six, potentially on a line centered by Leon Draisaitl and fresh free-agent add Viktor Arvidsson on his right flank? He immediately jumps out as one of the better value signings of the day, especially after outproducing Evander Kane (who he’ll likely challenge for second-line duties) in slightly fewer minutes on a worse team.

Skinner won’t be a major defensive upgrade on whoever he pushes down the lineup. He’s not a terribly physically involved player and has consistently owned poor individual chance-prevention metrics. But he does have a knack for finishing, especially at 5-on-5, helping balance out an Edmonton offense that can occasionally be too power-play reliant.

With Skinner on the books, Edmonton still has roughly $2.75MM in projected cap space remaining, per CapFriendly.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Oilers Re-Sign Corey Perry; Sign Brown, Delia, Carrick

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2:25 p.m.: The Oilers have also re-signed right winger Corey Perry to a one-year, $1.4MM contract, per a team announcement. He returns to Edmonton for his 20th NHL season in 2024-25. It’ll carry a $1.15MM cap hit with up to $250K in performance bonuses, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports. His return fills out a lot of good work from acting GM Jeff Jackson today to fill out their depth scoring complement after he ended the season with eight goals and 13 points in 38 games in an Oilers uniform.

12:42 p.m.: The Oilers are bringing in depth defenseman Josh Brown on a three-year deal with a $1MM cap hit, per a team announcement. They’ve also signed depth netminder Collin Delia to a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K NHL/$400K AHL with $425K guaranteed, per PuckPedia. Lastly, the team announced a one-year, two-way contract for defenseman Connor Carrick which will pay him $775K at the NHL level.

Brown, 30, is a bit of a blemish on an otherwise solid day for the Oilers thus far. Strictly a shutdown and PK specialist, he’s posted some downright abysmal possession numbers over the past two seasons in a Coyotes uniform, only controlling 39.7% of expected goals when on the ice at even strength. He does carry some special teams value, but even with receiving considerable time shorthanded, his low average ice time (14:45 last season) evidences how sparingly he’s used at even strength.

What he does bring to the Edmonton blue line is six years and nearly 300 games of NHL experience coupled with his 6’5″, 220-lb frame. He’s laid over 100 hits in each of the past three seasons, a mark he could look to hit if he gets into about half of Edmonton’s games this season. For a seven-figure cap hit, that’s a likely possibility, although it can also be fully buried in the minors if the Oilers need to.

Brown is coming off a career-high 10 points in 51 games with Arizona last year. He’s also logged NHL time for the Bruins, Panthers and Senators.

Delia, 30, joins the organization as Jack Campbell’s replacement and projects to serve as the starter for AHL Bakersfield next season. He struggled in 32 appearances for the Jets’ minor league affiliate in 2023-24, the Manitoba Moose, posting a .872 SV% and an 11-9-1 record. His last NHL action came with the Canucks in 2022-23, when he had a .882 SV% and 3.28 GAA in 20 appearances.

Carrick also likely enters the fray as AHL depth, especially with Brown’s signing. While he was once a fringe NHL regular with the Maple Leafs in the late 2010s, he’s been solely a minor-league option for the past few years. The 30-year-old spent last year with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley, putting up 34 points and a +12 rating in 70 games. He’s appeared in 242 NHL games over eight different seasons with the Leafs, Devils, Capitals, Stars and Bruins, recording 13 goals and 50 points with a -19 rating.

Oilers To Sign Viktor Arvidsson

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Edmonton Oilers have agreed on a contract with forward Viktor Arvidsson. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, it will be a two-year, $8MM agreement between Arvidsson and the Oilers.

It’s a nice value signing for acting GM Jeff Jackson, who gets a more experienced and dependable linemate for Leon Draisaitl. The 31-year-old Arvidsson didn’t have a ton of market value this summer after being limited to just 18 games with injuries last season, but he still managed six goals and nine assists for 15 points for the Kings when in the lineup. He scored at least 20 goals in each of his two seasons in L.A. and had 59 points, the second-highest tally of his career, in 2022-23.

Now, Arvidsson jumps to the other side of a burgeoning Edmonton-Los Angeles rivalry after losing to the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs for three years in a row. He’s scored 30 goals twice in his career, although they both came during his time with the Predators in the 2010s.

If he stays healthy, he should easily outperform his $4MM cap hit in an advantageous situation alongside either Draisaitl or Connor McDavid, but likely the former. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry in 2026.

Oilers Re-Sign James Hamblin, Noah Philp, Noel Hoefenmayer

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The Edmonton Oilers will bring back a bit of organizational depth as the team announced they have signed forward James Hamblin to a two-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay Hamblin the league minimum of $775K at the NHL over both years of the contract. Additionally, the team has also signed forward Noah Philp to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him $775K at the NHL level.

Hamblin split the 2023-24 season between the Oilers and the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. In 31 games at the top level, the former undrafted free agent scored two goals and three points in total while averaging just under eight minutes of ice time per game. As a much more productive AHL forward, Hamblin skated in 13 games for the Condors as he collected four goals and eight points in total.

Depending on how much depth the Oilers retain over the next 48 hours, Hamblin may be a good bet to rise up the depth chart and even crack a spot in Edmonton’s bottom six. Hamblin is no stranger to the Oilers’ defensive structure and is not afraid to use his body to block shots in the defensive zone. However, the most likely circumstance is that Hamblin starts next year in AHL Bakersfield to serve as a potential injury replacement for the Oilers throughout the regular season.

Philp, on the other hand, will be back with AHL Bakersfield after missing the entire season due to personal reasons. In his last full year during the 2022-23 AHL season, Philp scored 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games while being one of the team’s better power forward options.

Later in the day, PuckPedia reported the Oilers also brought back 25-year-old left-shot defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K NHL/$100K AHL. He was a restricted free agent and had 18 points in 47 games with Bakersfield last year.

Oilers Re-Sign Connor Brown

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9:07 a.m.: Edmonton has confirmed that Brown is sticking around at his reported one-year, $1MM price tag.

8:10 a.m.: The Edmonton Oilers have re-signed winger Connor Brown to a one-year, $1MM extension, per PuckPedia (Twitter link). The deal comes as a slight guaranteed raise from Brown’s one-year, $775K contract last season, though that deal carried $3.225MM in performance bonuses which he met.

Brown’s one-year deal last summer put him in a spot to succeed Klim Kostin’s bruting role next to Connor McDavid. Kostin fit the bill to good effect, with 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games last season. Brown wasn’t able to do the same, going through the first 54 games of the season with just five assists. It wasn’t until game 55 that Brown scored his first goal of the year – and he heated up when he finally broke the curse with four goals and seven points in his final 17 games of the season. Brown concluded his year with just 12 points in 71 games – adding two goals and six points in 17 postseason games.

Despite the abysmal scoring, Brown has earned a raise on his next deal with the Oilers, with the team likely hoping that Brown can be much more productive with the monkey off his back. With Brown signed, Edmonton now sits with $12.933MM in cap space to fill five forward spots and two defense spots.

Oilers Buy Out Jack Campbell

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The Edmonton Oilers have bought out the final three years of goaltender Jack Campbell’s contract (Twitter link). Campbell will need to clear unconditional waivers before the buy out goes through. If it does, it will save the Oilers $3.9MM in cap hit next season, and a cumulative $9MM over the next three seasons combined, though they will then carry an empty $1.5MM cap hit for three more years.

This move was one of the most anticipated as the buyout window rolled around, bringing a sudden end to the five-year, $25MM contract Campbell signed in Edmonton just two years ago. It was the first high-value contract of his career, earned after he posted 31 wins and a .914 save percentage in 49 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. That was Campbell’s first season as a full-time NHL starter, though he entered the year with a .918 save percentage in 86 career games through the previous five seasons – giving the Oilers a bit of solace as they looked to find their next starting goaltender.

That’s the position Campbell earned out of the gates, though he quickly began to show holes. Campbell posted a .876 save percentage through his first 15 games with the club – ultimately struggling enough to lose the starter’s role to rookie backup Stuart Skinner. Skinner held a tight grip on the role through the rest of the year, posting a .913 save percentage in 50 games and ranking second in 2023 Calder Trophy voting behind Matthew Beniers.

Skinner’s rise quickly ousted Campbell from the role he was being paid $5MM to fill. And while the Oilers attempted to remedy by awarding him five games this season, his .873 save percentage forced their hand – and he would go on to spend nearly all year buried in the minor leagues. In the name of silver linings, Campbell did rediscover his groove in the AHL – posting 18 wins and a .918 in 33 games with the Bakersfield Condors. But that’s still far from the role Edmonton was hoping he’d fill, and Campbell will now find himself back on the open market. It will be interesting to see what roles team prescribe to Campbell as he looks to find a new home on the back of a career that’s seen him competently fill both starting and backup roles at every level.

Edmonton Acquires 32nd Overall Pick From Philadelphia

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Edmonton Oilers have acquired the 31st overall pick from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers will receive the Oilers’ first-round pick in 2025 or 2026 based on conditions attached to the pick per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

After losing the Stanley Cup Final only a few days ago, Edmonton was able to trade into the first round after all. The organization selected Sam O’Reilly out of the top-tier London Knights program in the Ontario Hockey League. O’Reilly carries keen awareness all over the ice and is a defensive-minded center through and through.

In 68 games for London this season, O’Reilly scored 20 goals and 56 points while collecting a rating of +32. After the regular season, O’Reilly tallied another five goals and 12 points in 16 postseason contests as the Knights made it to the Memorial Cup Finals after going 16-2 in the OHL playoffs. Long-term, due to his style of play, O’Reilly projects to be a solid bottom-six option in Edmonton.

It was likely an easy gamble for the Flyers, as Philadelphia must hope the Oilers don’t win the Stanley Cup Final over the next two seasons to reap positive value out of this deal. Even before the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, the Flyers potentially already have three picks in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft if certain conditions are met.

Oilers Extend Calvin Pickard, Cam Dineen

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4:40 p.m.: Pickard’s deal is now official, with the Oilers confirming the terms as reported.

2:18 p.m.: The Oilers are finishing up on a two-year contract extension for backup netminder Calvin Pickard, reports ESPN’s Kevin Weekes. It’s a $2MM deal ($1MM cap hit), according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. He was slated to become a UFA on Monday.

They also have a piece of completed business done for depth defenseman Cam Dineen. The pending Group VI UFA has been retained on a two-year, two-way deal, per PuckPedia. It’ll pay him $775K NHL/$275K AHL ($325K guaranteed) in 2024-25 before bumping to $775K NHL/$350K AHL ($400K guaranteed) in 2025-26.

The extension marks a return to consistent NHL time for Pickard, a 32-year-old journeyman who’d largely been a minor league option since 2019. But a stretch of poor play from Jack Campbell to open Edmonton’s season caused them to waive him and assign him to the AHL early on, paving the way for Pickard to earn his keep as a backup to Stuart Skinner.

At the time, it was an easy decision. Campbell had struggled ever since signing with the Oilers in free agency in 2022, and sending him down opened up $1.15MM in cap space. Meanwhile, Pickard had gotten off to a strong start on the farm, putting up a .939 SV% in his first four outings for the Bakersfield Condors.

Pickard didn’t blow the doors off in his first extended NHL chance in a while, nor did anyone expect him to. But he was a much more stable option to insert in relief of the developing Skinner, and did manage to give the Oilers some above-average play with a .909 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 23 appearances. The Avalanche 2010 second-round pick also made his playoff debut in relief of Skinner in Game 3 of their second-round win over the Canucks, also starting Games 4 and 5 before Skinner returned after a much-needed reset for Game 6. Pickard held his own with a .915 SV%, helping Edmonton recover and advance all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

A $1MM cap hit is still fully buriable in the minors if the Oilers fail to find a way to move on from the remainder of Campbell’s contract this summer and he fights for a spot in training camp, but it’s a good indication they envision Pickard seeing NHL time for the next two years. His 23 outings this season were his most since being forced into starting action for the Avalanche during their last-place finish in 2016-17.

Meanwhile, Dineen is expected to reprise a top-four role in Bakersfield after spending all of this season in the minors. Since acquiring the 26-year-old via trade from the Coyotes in March 2023, he’s put up seven goals and 30 assists for 37 points in 77 games with the Condors while logging a -3 rating. He has seven assists and a -16 rating in 34 career NHL appearances, all of which came in Arizona in 2021-22. Dineen was a third-round pick of the Coyotes in the 2016 draft.

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