Despite losing to Florida in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, the Edmonton Oilers didn’t miss a beat on the first day of free agency.
The Oilers signed veteran forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, kept Cup final standout Mattias Janmark and gave forwards Corey Perry and Connor Brown one-year extensions among nearly a dozen moves made Monday.
The 31-year-old Arvidsson, who was signed to a two-year, $8-million US contract, spent the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings where he logged 52 goals and 71 assists in 161 games. The five-foot-10, 185-pound right-winger had a goal and nine assists in a combined 11 playoff games against the Oilers this season and in 2023.
Arvidsson says Edmonton defenceman Mattias Ekholm — a fellow Swede — lobbied him hard to become an Oiler.
“He probably didn’t want to play against me again,” Arvidsson joked on a media conference call Monday.
“I had a few teams [interested], but I’ve known Ekky for a long time. Our families know each other well. He convinced me pretty early and I think that was a big part of it, too.
“It’s going to be fun and exciting to have some snow again.”
Arvidsson compiled 179 goals and 183 assists in 546 career NHL games, and 13 goals and 24 assists in 72 career playoff games.
But he played only 18 regular season games for the Kings in 2023-24 because of a back injury that he says he has now recovered from.
Arvidsson had three assists in five playoff games against Edmonton in the first round this year.
“The team itself is built really well,” Arvidsson said. “I feel like they were really close this year and I hope I can help the team move even further.”
Returning stars and a second Skinner
The Oilers re-signed Perry for $1.4 million and Brown for $1 million, while inking 32-year-old Skinner to a one-year deal worth $3 million.
Perry signed with the Oilers on Jan. 22 and had eight goals and five assists in 38 regular-season games. He played his career 1,300th game March 28 against the Kings and recorded his 900th career point March 16 against Colorado.
In his fourth trip to a Stanley Cup final in five years, the 39-year-old had a goal and a pair of assists in 19 playoff games in which he averaged 10 minutes 45 seconds ice time per game. Perry will play in his 20th NHL season in 2024-25.
Brown had four goals and eight assists in 71 regular-season games for the Oilers, but shone in the post-season. The 30-year-old from Toronto had two goals and four assists in 19 playoff games and led the team in short-handed points with three.
He scored short-handed in Game 5 of the Cup final against Florida, and became the third player in NHL history to record short-handed points in back-to-back Stanley Cup games.
The six-foot, 185-pound forward was a key cog in Edmonton’s stingy penalty-killing unit that allowed just four power-play goals for a 94.3 per cent success rate in the post-season.
Skinner has totalled 357 goals and 313 assists in 1,006 career games with Carolina and then Buffalo. The winger from Toronto had 24 goals and 22 assists in 74 games for the Sabres this past season.
Edmonton also signed defenceman Josh Brown to a three-year, $3-million contract and extended Troy Stecher’s contract by two years for $1.575-million.
Josh Brown, six-foot-five and 220 pounds, had three goals and seven assists in 51 games for Arizona last season. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., has 11 goals, 23 assists and 296 penalty minutes over 290 career NHL games with Florida, Ottawa, Boston and Arizona.
Edmonton acquired 30-year-old defenceman Stecher at the trade deadline from the Arizona Coyotes. He had a pair of assists in seven regular-season games for the Oilers, but didn’t play in the post-season. Stecher has tallied 19 goals and 91 assists in 494 career NHL games with Vancouver, Los Angeles, Detroit, Arizona, Calgary and Edmonton.
Also Monday, the club re-signed forward James Hamblin to a two-year, two-way contract. Forward Noah Philp, goalie Collin Delia and defencemen Connor Carrick and Noel Hoefenmayer all agreed to one-year, two-way deals that each carried an annual average value of $775,000.
And Monday evening the team announced it had re-signed forwards Mattias Janmark and Adam Henrique.
The six-foot-two, 205-pound Janmark agreed to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.45 million.
Janmark had four goals and eight assists in 71 regular-season games this past season. He added four goals and four assists in 25 post-season games, including two goals and two assists in the Cup final against Florida.
The six-foot, 195-pound Henrique agreed to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $3 million.
The 34-year-old Henrique, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Tampa Bay — via Anaheim — appeared in 17 regular-season games for the Oilers. He had 24 goals and 27 assists last season, including four goals and three assists with Edmonton. He competed in 17 post-season games with the Oilers and had four goals and three assists, including a pair of game winners against the Panthers.