TORONTO — After falling to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final 21 days ago, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers have already moved on and are now focused on resolving their outstanding issues for the upcoming campaign.
The Stanley Cup or bust objective appears more attainable now that some of the offseason transactions have been done.
During the fifth annual Zach Hyman Celebrity Classic Charitable Golf Tournament on Monday at Oakdale Golf and Country Club, McDavid stated, “I thought the whole management staff has done a great job.” “So far, their offseason has been fantastic.”Aries
Driven by the grief of losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final by a score of 2-1 on June 24, the team signed free agents Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson. Not just the athletes are driven.
To address McDavid’s criticism, take into consideration the efforts led by Edmonton’s CEO of Hockey Operations, Jeff Jackson, and his staff after the heartbreaking Stanley Cup Playoffs concluded three weeks ago. Former general manager Ken Holland left the team when his contract expired earlier this month.
The beginning of autonomy On July 1, just one day after the Buffalo Sabres bought out the last three seasons of Skinner’s eight-year, $72 million contract ($9 million average annual value), Edmonton signed Skinner to a one-year, $3 million contract. Arvidsson, who spent the previous three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, was also signed by the Oilers to a two-year, $8 million deal ($4 million AAV).
A team that already has forwards McDavid (32), Hyman (54), Leon Draisaitl (41) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (18) should benefit greatly from the addition of much-needed supplemental scoring from the 31-year-old Arvidsson (179) and the 32-year-old Skinner (357 NHL goals) who have combined for 536 career goals.
Along with defenseman Troy Stecher (two years, $787,500 AAV), the Oilers re-signed forwards Adam Henrique (two years, $3 million AAV), Mattias Janmark (three years, $1.45 million AAV), Connor Brown (one year, $1 million), and Corey Perry (one year, $1.4 million). Josh Brown, a defenceman, was signed by Edmonton to a three-year contract worth $1 million AAV.
Then, on July 5, in exchange for forwards Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio from the Sabres, the Oilers acquired highly touted forward prospect Matthew Savoie, a native of the Edmonton suburb of St. Albert, Alberta. At pick No. 9 in the 2022 NHL Draft, the 20-year-old was selected.
It has been rushed and brief. However, I believe they’ve accomplished a lot in the short time they’ve been working on it,” McDavid remarked. “Retaining as
