This in from the Edmonton Oilers, news they have signed two young d-men, “Shakir Mukhamadullin to a two-year contract extension with an AAV of $ 1.75 million as well as Spencer Stastney to a one-year contract extension with an AAV of $1.525 million.”
The Mukhamadullin signing was reported on Saturday, but the Oilers are making it official, along with the new singing of restricted free agent Stastney.
roster July 5
My take
1. The Oilers now bolstered their left side-depth, which looked a bit iffy for a few months in the immediate aftermath of news of the Darnell Nurse trade. But the Oilers acquired Mukhamadullin in that trade, then quickly signed veteran Ryan Shea, and now have finished a contract with Stastney.
2. Stastney had a rough year in his own zone, making a higher rate of mistakes on Grade A shots against than any other Oilers d-man, and this for a player who generally faced weaker competition. But he can fly on his skates and he’s agile. It was also a chaotic year for the Oilers, with the d-man coaching changing, and the entire team unsettled defending the puck, with numerous breakdowns all around.
Perhaps under a different coach and a new defensive system, Stastney will find a way to thrive.
3. As it stands now, Stastney is Edmonton’s 8th or 9th d-men on the depth chart, with Mukhamadullin ahead of him, and Alex Regula, a right shot d-men, at about the same level. That’s a welcome change for Edmonton in a short amount of time, as the team simply could not go into the season counting on either Stastney or Regula in the bottom-pairing.
This isn’t to say one of the two can’t play solid hockey in that role, but they both failed at it last year, so best not to have that kind of pressure on them.
4. Stastney has a one-way contract, but will he make the Oilers? Will Edmonton start the year with eight d-men? I doubt that. If he is sent to the AHL, $1,225,000 of his cap hit will not count against the NHL cap, but $300,000 will count. That’s not ideal for the Oilers to use cap space in that manner, but it is ideal to roster depth with plenty of players with NHL experience.
Oilers dmen Grade A 2023-26
More to come…
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