Two veteran signings stirred up the NHL waters on Friday. Two Canadian teams expanded their squads. While a skilled forward with a lot of experience is coming to Winnipeg, a former number two draft pick is coming to Edmonton. No miracles are expected from any of them, rather they are useful fighters who will bring something extra.
Let’s start with Winnipeg, who decided to poach Sam Gagner from the free agent market. The experienced right-hander is a familiar face in the NHL. He bounced around from team to team, playing for Edmonton, who drafted him, Arizona, Philadelphia, Columbus, Vancouver and most recently Detroit.
In Winnipeg, he should be able to jump into the third or fourth attack and it is an exaggeration to say that he can perform a lot of music for little money.
He only received a one-year contract from the Jets for the minimum possible salary, i.e. $750,000. In the past season, he played eighty-one games, from which he managed to score thirty-one points. That’s not a throwaway balance sheet. In addition, it will be a big milestone, he currently has 967 matches to his name. So if he makes it into the starting line-up, he could conquer the legendary 1000 game mark.
Defenseman Ryan Murray signed the same contract in Edmonton. The long-time support of Columbus, who even went from the second place in the draft, has been rather floundering in the NHL in recent years.
Through New Jersey, he got to Colorado, with whom he won the Stanley Cup. Although he helped him, but not to a great extent. He played only 37 games in the regular season, and did not play a single minute in the playoffs.
What could his role be in an Oilers jersey? It can be assumed that he will shuttle between the third pair and the stands. In the position of left back, which Murray occupies, Darnell Nurse is the clear number one. Brett Kulak, Slater Koekkoek or the talented Philip Broberg can also play on the left.
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