The Edmonton Oilers are keeping Derek Ryan around, giving the veteran forward a two-year contract extension worth $900,000 annually, the team announced on Tuesday.

Ryan appeared in 80 games for the Oilers during the 2022-23 season, scoring 13 goals and adding seven assists for 20 points with a +11 rating. He was due for unrestricted free agency on Jul. 1., but will now likely spend the next two seasons in Alberta.

Before joining Edmonton, he had stints with the Carolina Hurricanes and rival Calgary Flames.

The Washington native recorded career highs in shorthanded goals with two, blocked shots with 42 and hits with 54 last season, while ranking sixth among Edmonton forwards in goals, 11th in points, and sixth in takeaways, per the official release.

The 36-year-old played in his 500th career NHL game last season, and suited up for 11 playoff games for the Oilers, scoring a goal and two assists while averaging 11:50 time on ice per game. The 5'10, 185-pound forward has scored 76 goals and 115 assists for 191 points over 500 games, adding nine points in 41 career Stanley Cup Playoff appearances.

After locking up Derek Ryan, the Oilers have approximately $5 million in cap space to work with; Nick Bjugstad, Mattias Janmark and Devin Shore are the remaining pending UFAs on the roster.

Likely the top priority with that money will be signing budding star defenseman and restricted free-agent Evan Bouchard this offseason.

Edmonton lost in six games to the eventual champion Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference semifinal last month, but with most of the core returning for at least the next two years, the franchise figures to be knocking on the door of NHL supremacy for the next few seasons.