Oilers Rumors: Edmonton To Be Proactive & Extend 2 Players This Offseason
The Edmonton Oilers have made some interesting and good changes this offseason already while re-signing some other players to stick around. While Connor McDavid is the obvious player to get extended this summer with one year left on his deal, Bob Stauffer said that the Oilers may be proactive with Vasily Podkolzin and Jake Walman by also trying to get them extended this summer.
Walman is a UFA next summer, so his extension is more important as there will be less time to work out a deal before free agency and he is seen as the long-term replacement for Mattias Ekholm when his contract ends and his role starts to decrease if he remains with the team.
Walman was great for the Oilers and as a left-shot d-man, can play both sides of the ice, which helps considering the team has Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, and Brett Kulak as well. Walman has a $3.4 million AAV cap hit next season, but with an extension, I expect that to at least jump up to $6 million AAV. He's a good age at 29 years old and a 6-7 year deal is likely coming if he is extended.
He can do it all. Walman averaged 22:46 of ice time per game last season (21:26 with the Oilers) and recorded seven goals and 40 points in 65 games. He finished the Oilers' playoff run with two goals and 10 points in 22 games, was a +9, and had 66 blocked shots and 37 hits. He is a long-term solution for the Oilers that they don't want to let walk.
Podkolzin was acquired for cheap last offseason and turned out to be much more than the Oilers had even hoped for. The 24-year-old showed flashes of offensive skill that got him drafted so high by the Vancouver Canucks, but was also a good complementary player, spent some time on the penalty kill, played every game, and recorded 211 hits. His size and aggressiveness is exactly what the Oilers need to stay in their lineup.
In 22 playoff games, Podkolzin recorded three goals, 10 points, and 100 hits while averaging just 11 minutes per game. He makes every second on the ice count and will be cheap to extend. He makes $1 million next season and is a RFA, but I don't expect the contract to exceed $2.5 million if his offense doesn't rise a fair bit from where it was last season. He will likely remain a complementary piece that can play anywhere from the second line to the fourth line. He should stick with the Oilers, so the only reason not to extend him early is if Edmonton thinks he's going to do worse.
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