The Edmonton Oilers have seemingly been on the cusp of a Stanley Cup for the past few years but have been unable to get over the playoff hump. This past season was no different, as the Oilers lost to the eventual champion for the second straight year with a six-game, second-round defeat against the Vegas Golden Knights.

This offseason, the Oilers were asking themselves a familiar question: how do they improve the roster around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl enough to win a cup? Their complete lack of cap space limited how they could approach this offseason, and they still need to re-sign RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard. However, they have made a small handful of signings and re-signings, albeit mostly small ones.

With free agency winding down, now seems like a natural time to see how well the Oilers did with each of their signings this offseason.

RW Connor Brown: 1 year, $4 million

Brown, 28, was Edmonton's “big” addition this offseason, and his contract is actually pretty interesting. That $4 million value is deceiving, as his cap hit is just the veteran minimum of $775,000. The rest of the money comes from performance bonuses relating to how many games he plays, which would instead roll over into next year's payroll.

Brown himself is an interesting addition to the Oilers' lineup. In previous seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, he provided some solid scoring depth. He usually had around 30-40 points and around 15-20 goals a season and played a good amount of minutes as well.

The Senators traded Brown to the Washington Capitals last offseason, although he only played four games for them before suffering a season-ending injury. After missing so much time, Brown will be looking to bounce back in Edmonton this season. He could play all over the lineup, and playing with two of the best offensive players in the world could help him reach his scoring potential. If it doesn't work out, then the Oilers can just move on next season.

Grade: B

RW Mattias Janmark: 1 year, $1 million

Last season was Janmark's first with the Oilers, and he performed pretty well in a bottom-six role. In 66 games, the Swedish forward had 10 goals and 25 points while also playing on the penalty kill. He did miss time in the playoffs due to injury, but only had one assist in five games.

Janmark is a quality option in the lower part of the lineup and has had decent success nearly everywhere he's gone. The Oilers are always looking more depth, and there are far worse options out there than Janmark. The fact that he knows the system, and that his cap hit is actually lower than the $1.25 million it was last season, makes this a pretty good deal.

Grade: A-

RW Derek Ryan: 2 years, $1.8 million ($900,000 AAV)

Ryan, 36, is another quality option in the bottom six. He's a decent enough scorer for a fourth liner, scoring 13 goals and 20 points last season while playing around 11 minutes a night, and he can play on the penalty kill as well.

Ryan is obviously on the back nine of his career, so it wouldn't be too surprising to see a drop off in scoring this year. If he can keep up his strong defensive game, though, then everything should be fine. It's not like the Oilers are making a huge commitment with this room anyway.

Grade: B+

Veteran Minimum Signings: $775,000 AAV each

To wrap up, we'll do a brief lightning round going over each of the players Edmonton signed for the league's veteran minimum, and there are a lot of them.

Lane Pederson is a 25-year-old, formerly undrafted forward who has played with four teams in three seasons. He split time last season with the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring three goals and six points in 27 games. He did have 68 hits on the season, so even though he's not that big at just 6-0 and 192 pounds, he's not afraid to throw the body around. He'll likely be an extra forward on a one-year deal in Edmonton.

Center Drake Caggiula, 29, is actually returning to where he started his career. Caggiula had by far the best stretch of his career in Edmonton, scoring 27 goals and 49 points in 156 games. Recently, though, he's been relegated to mostly a minor-league player, appearing in just four games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. The same will likely be true in Edmonton, although maybe a homecoming could help him become a regular NHLer again.

Defenseman Ben Gleason, 25, spent five years with the Dallas Stars but played just four NHL games in that time, notching one assist. Likely another minor-league signing for the Oilers.

Finally, goalie Olivier Rodrigue and defenseman Phil Kemp have both yet to make their NHL debut and spent last season with the Bakersfield Condors, Edmonton's AHL affiliates. Rodrigue, 23, had a 2.77 goals against average and .912 save percentage last season, while Kemp, 24, had six goals and 21 points.

Grade: C