Real reason why Oilers signed Mike Hoffman to tryout contract revealed

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Liam McCormick
September 20, 2024 (5:17 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers have one of the deepest forward groups in the NHL, so it may have been a surprise to see them sign Mike Hoffman to a tryout contract.

As training camp begun, the Oilers brought in the 34 year old veteran scorer despite the fact that he may not be better than any other depth forward. At a press conference yesterday, Stan Bowman's comments seemed to indicate he may be here mostly to create competition in training camp.

»He's a veteran player with a great career so far. We think he'll be a nice addition to the camp. He's been a pretty consistent offensive player throughout his career. We're going to take a look at him and see how he fits in with our mix.»
- Stan Bowman

There's some speculation that Hoffman could be a replacement for Evander Kane - but even that idea doesn't make much sense. The Oilers likely knew that Kane was out for a long period of time when they signed two top-six wingers in Jeff Skinner and Victor Arvidsson. Even in the bottom six, they've got quality wingers signed in Mattias Janmark, Connor Brown, Corey Perry, Vasily Podkolzin, and a litany of younger players.

Through his career, Hoffman has been a one-dimensional offensive player. It's always nice to add more scoring, but in reality, Hoffman would be getting fourth line minutes and no powerplay with the Oilers. How effective could he really be in that role? Wouldn't it be better to give that opportunity to a young player like Raphael Lavoie or Noah Philp?

In NHL preseason games, teams are required to play 8 veteran players in each game. It's a real possibility that Hoffman is in Edmonton to battle in training camp and try to impress another team into signing him with his preseason play. Last season was really rough for Hoffman, only scoring 10 goals and 23 points with the San Jose Sharks.

At the end of the day though, Hoffman is an established NHL player with 228 goals in 745 career games. The Oilers will give him a fair look in training camp and preseason, but it feels like an impossibility that he could earn a roster spot and play a meaningful role with Edmonton this year.

Source: Edmonton Journal - Evander Kane confirms impending surgery; Oilers invite possible replacement to camp on PTO