History has proven that the “winners” on July 1 rarely become the winners on the ice during the season. Spending big money in free agency doesn’t lead to Stanley Cup success very often, if ever. However, NHL teams can augment their team, and make smart, astute signings that keep them pushing in the right direction.

The Edmonton Oilers signed five players and acquired two more via trades on the opening day of free agency, and those new players carry a combined cap hit of $9.412m next season. Edmonton didn’t spend big money. Instead, they took some low-risk swings.

The biggest move was trading Darnell Nurse to San Jose for Shakir Mukhamadullin and prospect Zach Sharp. Mukhamadullin is an restricted free agent who was qualified at $1 million. He was the 20th overall pick in 2020 and is still trying to find his way in the NHL. He will battle with Ty Emberson for the third-pair right-side spot. He shoots left but can play both ways. The Oilers didn’t retain any of Nurse’s $9.25 million contract, and that allowed them to sign Ryan Shea for five years at $4 million AAV. Shea, Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman will make up the left side of the Oilers’ defence. I’d expect Shea to be paired with Connor Murphy on the Oilers’ top PK unit. Shea was on the top PK pair in Pittsburgh last season, and they had the 6th best PK in the NHL.

Shea was the biggest signing, dollar-wise and time-on-ice-wise, and Kasperi Kapanen was the second, as he signed a one-year, $2.6 million AAV deal. Kapanen returns to the Oilers after he tested free agency. He wanted to remain in Edmonton and will be a good fit in the Oilers’ top nine. He was their best forward in the playoffs, and he and Jason Dickinson were a very good PK pair.

I expect the Oilers’ first PK unit to consist of Kapanen, Jason Dickinson, Shea, and Connor Murphy.

The Oilers also signed depth forwards Mathieu Joseph ($1m) and Max Jones ($850K) to one-year deals. Jones, when healthy, was a solid fourth line forward last season for the Oilers. Both will be depth forwards, but with the Oilers likely to carry three goalies, I don’t see a scenario that both are on the opening night roster, and in fact, neither might be as the Oilers will only carry 13 forwards.

The Oilers signed Stanley Cup winner Freddie Andersen to a one-year deal with a base salary of $1m and another $1.8m in performance bonuses. He receives a $600,000 bonus when he plays 10 games and another $400,000 when he plays 20 games, and he gets $200,000 for each playoff round won where he plays 50 per cent of the games. Currently, the Oilers have a lot of cap space, so they can just budget for his bonuses,........

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