During the playoffs and especially in the Stanley Cup finals, his game took another step forward and he became an important player as the Oilers mounted a comeback against the Florida Panthers. Even though he only scored four goals through 24 games he was put to the task to help shut down the main lines of teams such as the Dallas Stars and the Panthers.
As good as the Oilers have been with unrestricted free agency, the team is in a severe cap crunch and are currently $2.4 million over. It's widely expected that Jeff Jackson and the incoming general manager will continue to tinker and move players around like Evander Kane and potential trade Ryan Mcleod to make everything fit with the team's goal to add a defenseman.