Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!
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Oilersnation (Laing)
Edmonton Oilers sign goaltender Stuart Skinner to two-year contract extension
- The Edmonton Oilers have signed RFA goaltender Stuart Skinner to a two-year, two-way contract extension, the club announced Saturday.
- The contract carries an AAV of $750,000.
- Skinner, 22, led the American Hockey League in wins last year posting a 20-9-1 record to go along with a 2.38 GAA, a .914 save percentage and two shutouts. He also helped lead the way for the Condors to take home the AHL’s Pacific Division title this year.
- Drafted by the Oilers in the third round of the 2017 draft, Skinner played in his first NHL game last year securing a win over the Ottawa Senators. Skinner has spent the last four seaons with the Condors posting a 40-28-10 record, a 2.91 GAA and a .900 save percentage.
BLH’s Thoughts: Skinner is the club’s top goaltending prospect for a reason, but don’t be fooled by last season’s record. The Condors had an older team and played in a division with a lot of youth. The real test for Skinner will be this season when Bakersfield has to travel and play clubs outside of their division. He’s going to have competition from an accomplished KHL netminder in 2021-22 as well. So… Skinner is definitely going to dig deep to prove he’s trending up and last season wasn’t an outlier.
Lowetide.ca
OILERS ADD PERLINI
- Perlini has been inconsistent since turning pro, but has averaged 16 goals per 82 games in the NHL. Perlini spent 21 games in the Swiss-A league last season scoring 9-7-16 (0.76 pts-game). Linus Omark led the league in scoring, 22-39-61 in 49 games. My guess is he pushes for an NHL job but is sent to Bakersfield, and he could get a recall during the year. I believe his competition will be Tyler Benson and Devin Shore (fourth-line winger) with his rugged style and speed his big advantage, his play without the puck his weakness. It should be an interesting battle.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’m also looking forward to this battle but ultimately, I think the only way he makes the Oilers is if he outplays Devin Shore in camp or Tyler Benson (who’ll have to pass through waivers to be sent down to the AHL) has been moved. Perlini is on a two-way deal, so it’ll be easier for the team to send him to Bakersfield from the get-go, get him re-acclimated to AHL hockey and then re-call him down the road a bit if need be.
ProHockeyRumors.com
Buyout-Proof: Darnell Nurse’s Extra Protection
- The combination of a contract being front-loaded and then filled with signing bonuses creates another sort of protection for Nurse. After the halfway point, it essentially can’t be bought out. The cap savings would be negligible at that point, meaning the defenseman will almost certainly see this new deal play out regardless of how he performs down the line.
- For instance, if the team tried to buy the deal out in June 2026, they would still face cap hits of $7.72MM in 2026-27 and $8.52MM in each of the next three years. As it gets closer to the end of the term, the cap savings would be even less. That means if things go sour, Edmonton would need to pull the trigger early to get any real relief, like the Minnesota Wild recently did with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, but that would still result in some painful cap penalties without a player to show for it.
- This isn’t the first time the league has seen contracts structured in a way to prevent buyouts. In the summer of 2016, just a few days after free agency opened, PHR published a piece examining how Loui Eriksson’s deal (and several others signed that day) was essentially buyout-proof.
- It’s a gamble, an especially risky one to take a year out from Nurse reaching unrestricted free agency.
- The team is making a huge investment in the short term, hoping to find some success in the postseason.
BLH’s Thoughts: Such an interesting way to show you care for the team by handcuffing it both in the short-term and the long-term. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nurse the player. He’s absolutely incredible when I disregard the contract he just signed and I hope he’ll stay incredible and develop into the kind of player that justifies that deal.
