The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Viktor Arvidsson to a two-year, US$4-million contract and also extended the contracts of forwards Corey Perry and Connor Brown by one year.
Arvidsson spent the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings and had 52 goals and 71 assists in 161 games during that span.
The five-foot-10, 185-pound right-winger had a goal and nine assists in a combined 11 playoff games against the Oilers this season and in 2023.
Arvidsson says Edmonton defenceman and fellow-Swede Mattias Ekholm lobbied him hard to become an Oiler.
“He probably didn’t want to play against me again,” joked Arvidsson on a media conference call Monday.
“I had a few teams (interested), but I’ve known Ekky for a long time. Our families know each other well. He convinced me pretty early and I think that was a big part of it too.
“It’s going to be fun and exciting to have some snow again.”
Arvidsson compiled 179 goals and 183 assists in 546 career NHL games, and 13 goals and 24 assists in 72 career playoff games.
But he played only 18 regular-season games for the Kings in 2023-24 because of a back injury.
“I’m 100 per cent,” Arvidsson said. “I showed that when I was back and that’s how I feel right now, I feel great.
“I know people are concerned about that, but I’m the only guy who knows my body and I feel great and I feel confident. This going to be a great year and I’m going to play a lot of games.”
“The team itself is built really well,” Arvidsson said. “I feel like they were really close this year and I hope I can help the team move even further.”
The Oilers re-signed Perry for $1.4 million and Brown for $1 million among the club’s transactions announced Monday to kick off free agency.
Perry signed with the Oilers on Jan. 22 and had eight goals and five assists in 38 regular-season games. He played his career 1,300th game March 28 versus the Kings and recorded his 900th career point March 16 against Colorado.
In his fourth trip to a Stanley Cup final in five years, the 39-year-old had a goal and a pair of assists in 19 playoff games in which he averaged 10 minutes 45 seconds ice time per game.
He scored the game-winning goal in Game 5 against Florida. Perry will play in his 20th NHL season in 2024-25.
Brown, from Toronto, had four goals and eight assists in 71 regular-season games for the Oilers, but shone in the post-season. The 30-year-old had two goals and four assists in 19 playoff games and led the team in short-handed points with three.
He scored short-handed in Game 5 of the Cup final against Florida, and became the third player in NHL history to record short-handed points in back-to-back Stanley Cup games.
The six-foot, 185-pound forward was a key cog in Edmonton’s stingy penalty-killing unit that allowed just four power-play goals for a 94.3 per cent success rate in the post-season.
Brown signed as a free agent with Edmonton in July 2023. He has a career 94 goals and 134 assists in 519 games with Toronto, Ottawa, Washington and Edmonton.
Edmonton also signed defenceman Josh Brown to a three-year deal with an annual average value of $1 million.
The six-foot-five, 220-pound right-shot defender had three goals and seven assists in 51 games for Arizona last season.
The 30-year-old from London, Ont., has 11 goals, 23 assists and 296 penalty minutes over 290 career NHL games with Florida, Ottawa, Boston and Arizona.
The club re-signed forward James Hamblin to a two-year, two-way contract.
Forward Noah Philp, goalie Collin Delia and defencemen Connor Carrick and Noel Hoefenmayer all agreed to one-year, two-way deals that carry an annual average value of $775,000.
The five-foot-10, 185-pound Hamblin from Edmonton split this past season between the Oilers and their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif.
Hamblin, 25, had two goals and an assist averaging eight minutes 51 minutes per game in 31 games for the Oilers between November and January.
The centre scored four goals and had four assists in 13 games upon his return to Bakersfield in January. Hamblin was sidelined with an injury in March.
Carrick has 13 goals and 37 assists in 242 NHL games with Washington, Toronto, Dallas, New Jersey and Boston.
The defender totalled nine goals and 25 assists in 70 games for the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds this past season.
The six-foot-three, 198-pound Philp from Canmore, Alta., originally signed with Edmonton in 2022 after scoring 20 goals and assisting on 18 others in 36 games at the University of Alberta. Philp, 25, had 19 goals and 18 assists in 70 games for Bakersfield in 2022-23.
Hoefenmayer, six foot one and 204 pounds, had seven goals and 11 assists and went plus-6 in 47 games for Bakersfield this past season.
The undrafted Delia of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., posted an 11-19-1 record with a 3.55 goals-against average and a .872 save percentage with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose this past season.
He’s appeared in 52 career NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks for a 19-18-1 record.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2024.
