The Edmonton Oilers are bringing back forward Kailer Yamamoto after the two sides agreed to a two-year deal worth $6.2 million. With Yamamoto signing another contract with the Oilers, he has avoided arbitration and also ensured that he can still skate alongside arguably the best player on the planet right now in the form of Connor McDavid.
Via NHL.com:
“Kailer Yamamoto signed a two-year, $6.2 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. It has an average annual value of $3.1 million. The 23-year-old forward was a restricted free agent and avoided a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for Aug. 7.”
Yamamoto is a middle-six forward who can be a solid source of secondary scoring behind the likes of Connor McDavid, Evander Kane, and Leon Draisaitl, though, as pointed out by hockey analytics expert JFresh, he still has plenty of room to improve when it comes to creating offense himself.
Kailer Yamamoto, signed 2x$3.1M by EDM, is a middle-six pass-first winger who doesn't drive play. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/vJxlPZE8cw
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 4, 2022
Yamamoto is coming off a career season wherein he found the back of the net 20 times in the regular season to go with 21 assists for a career-high total of 41 points. In the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he scored two goals with five assists over the course of two rounds.
The Oilers will go as far as where the pair of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will take them, but guys like Yamamoto still need to show up if Edmonton is to go deeper in the postseason, as evidenced in the team's recent trip to the playoffs.
With this latest signing, Edmonton goes over the cap by $6 million, per CapFriendly, so there could be some more wheeling and dealing to be done by the Oilers' front office.
Follow Us
Subscribe