Moments ago, news broke that the Detroit Red Wings have signed goaltender Jack Campbell to a one year, league minimum contract.
Campbell was bought out from his 5 year, $25M contract with the Edmonton Oilers after just 41 NHL games. In November this year, the Oilers sent down Jack Campbell when he posted a brutal .873 save percentage in 5 games, and seemed to lose all confidence in his game as an NHL goalie.
With the Bakersfield Condors, Campbell was able to find his game again after playing the rest of the year in the minor league. After 33 games, he posted a .918 saved percentage, and that seemed to be enough to entice the Red Wings to take a chance on him. Also, the Wings are desperate for goaltending at this point.
Campbell is a likeable person and easy to cheer for, and it was incredibly hard to see him crumble in his time with the Edmonton Oilers. The team is literally going to be paying for that mistake of a signing with $1.5M in dead cap space for the next 6 years.
It was a priority for the Oilers to get out of the weight of Campbell's inflated contract, and with the cap savings, they've already made a splash in free agency signing Victor Arvidsson. President and Interim GM Jeff Jackson has been busy today, and it doesn't seem like the Oilers are done yet. Stay tuned here for more updates on the Oilers free agency moves.
