Analyst says Edmonton Oilers struck gold with free agent signings
The Edmonton Oilers went to the Stanley Cup Final last year, but this year they'll be running it back with an even better roster thanks to two major free agent signings.
On the first day of free agency, the Oilers made a splash by signing two top-six forwards in Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson. The Oilers already had a lethal offence, but now Leon Draisaitl could be playing with two established wingers for the first time in his career. OilersNation analyst Tyler Yaremchuck is calling both of these signings home runs, and has some bold offensive predictions for their season.
Yaremchuck believes that Jeff Skinner could score 40 goals this season and Victor Arvidsson could score 35 in their best case scenarios.
Jeff Skinner has a long history of being a prolific scorer in the NHL, even on brutal teams. He was bought out of his $9M contract by the Buffalo Sabres last offseason, and the Oilers got him on a bargain deal for only $3M for one year. Skinner had his first down year last year with only 24 goals, but the year before, he scored 35 goals and 82 points. Skinner has never played in the playoffs, and certainly has never played with linemates as good as the Oilers top six. He last scored 40 goals in 2018-19, and if he finds some chemistry with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, he could certainly do it again.
Victor Arvidsson is another proven NHL goal scoring talent, but the biggest concern with him is his availability. Arvidsson has never played a full 82 game season in his 9 year NHL career. Despite this, he's scored 30 goals numerous times and consistently reaches the mid 20s. Again, if he can stay healthy and find chemistry with the Oilers forwards, he could match his career best year and score 35 goals. The Oilers only signed the 31 year old for two years at $4M each year, again a low-risk deal.
If both of these players meet their best-case scenarios, the Edmonton Oilers could have added 75 more goals to a historically good offensive team. Already playing in a weak pacific division, it's possible this years offence tears up the league all season, leading the Oilers to a President's Trophy and another long playoff run - hopefully with a Stanley Cup this time.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 21 | 98 ANSWERS Analyst says Edmonton Oilers struck gold with free agent signings Do you think Jeff Skinner will score more or less than 40 goals this year? | ||
| More than 40 | 39 | 39.8 % |
| Exactly 40 | 10 | 10.2 % |
| Less than 40 | 48 | 49 % |
| See Results | 1 | 1 % |
| List of polls | ||
