Article content
Edmonton’s CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson is the toast of Edmonton Oilers fans for his work as interim GM on July 1, but he’s also earned praise from around the National Hockey League.
At least with publications that waited until later in the day on July 1 (the Oilers signed up Jeff Skinner, Mattias Janmark and Adam Henrique later in the day) to announce winners and losers of the first day of free agency, the Oilers have been consistently listed as a winner.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Here are some of the highlights:
NHL commentator John Shannon on Oilers Now:
It’s hard to think that the Edmonton Oilers are going to get fast but they’re going to get faster… Everything that happened was at a level of quality that just makes a ton of sense… Keeping everybody together as much as they did was probably the biggest surprise.
Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, commentator and Oilers alumni Ryan Whitney:
Arvidsson’s always been an in-your-face-waterbug that can score. I love that signing… Connor Brown had a bad regular season he was f*cking awesome in the playoffs. Why wouldn’t that continue? He’s not a new guy on the team. He’s comfortable there, I love that…. Skinner and Arvidsson, while being an undersized dude, they’re going to play with when you play with Leon and Connor. Dude, it is a different ball game… Jeff Skinner is going to go from most games played without a
playoff game directly to a Stanley Cup…
I am actually over the moon right now. I that this was an awesome day coming off a a tough Game 7 loss. Everyone wants to be there. Nobody wants to go anywhere. They want be a part of the greatest comeback story, the way the Panthers did it, lose in the finals and go get it done
Headline News
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn ranked Arvidsson as one of the best contracts of the day, along with Sam Reinhart, Jake Guentzel, Matt Duchene, Sean Walker and Anthony Duclair:
In terms of fit and price, there were few deals today better than Viktor Arvidsson to the Oilers. One of the key missing pieces from Edmonton’s playoff run was a legitimate top-six forward to play with Leon Draisaitl, one who can drive play at five-on-five. Arvidsson is exactly that, a shoot-first winger who doesn’t need power-play time to deliver above-average value.
The fit alone is great, but it helps that the price and term are both reasonable, too. A $4 million cap hit comes in below his fair value and two years is perfect given the team’s other contract considerations coming up. Arvidsson comes with some injury risk, but he’s worth the reward.
Advertisement 4
Article content
The Athletic’s Thomas Drance @ThomasDrance
The Edmonton Oilers forward group is shaping up to be nasty. After Edmonton’s moves today, the “to win Stanley Cup” futures market has adjusted to price them as the favourite at +850. And that’s dead right.
Advertisement 5
Article content
Former NHL player and Live-in-Five podcaster Jordan Schmaltz:
I think the Oilers did a sneaky bit of business yesterday acquiring the 32 year old former Buffalo Sabre who grew up figure skating on the frozen ponds of southern Ontario. Jeff Skinner, in a complimentary role, he still has a lot to give. Middle 6 + PP2 that can add scoring all while playing with a chip on his shoulder after being bought out. If he can give Edmonton 20-25 odd tucks this is a helluva pick up. One of those guys that truly loves the game – you can’t teach passion folks.
My take
1. I suspect the Oilers would have been on every single list if more writers had waited until the end of July 1 to make their picks, but many shut it down around 5 p.m. Eastern time.
2. I’ll also suggest that much of what Edmonton did was subtle. They did not bring in super big names like Nashville paying big dollars for Steve Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault or Boston signing up Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. Instead, Edmonton brought in and retained a host of good players on excellent value contracts. Almost every signing could have got more dollars and/or more term in another city, but they took the Stanley Cup Discount to sign in Edmonton and have a chance of winning hockey’s most prestigious club team trophy. Each of Arvidsson, Skinner, Henrique, Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark look like they could have signed for more in other cities, but they chose Edmonton to pursue their Stanley Cup dreams.
Advertisement 6
Article content
At the Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: ‘Jeff Jackson is on absolute fire’: Edmonton Oilers fans thrilled with July 1 signings
McCURDY: Top 6 RW Viktor Arvidsson signs on with Edmonton
McCURDY: Veteran sniper Jeff Skinner signs one-year pact with Oilers
LEAVINS: Oilers bring back super-pest Corey Perry for one more year
STAPLES: Oilers add big RHD Josh Brown to replace departing Desharnais
LEAVINS: Connor Brown signs new one-year deal
STAPLES: Oilers re-sign pivot prospect Noah Philp after a year away from the game
Article content
