Edmonton Brings Ryan Jones Back

From NHL.com:

The Edmonton Oilers have agreed to terms with forward Ryan Jones and goaltender Richard Bachman, each on a one-year contract, the team announced Saturday.

Jones, 29, who became an unrestricted free agent Friday, played 27 games with the Oilers in 2012-13, scoring two goals and finishing with seven points. In the two prior seasons, he scored a career-high 18 goals in 2010-11 and had 17 goals and a career-best 33 points in 2011-12.

"I'm really excited. It's no secret that I love being in Edmonton and love playing for Edmonton," Jones told the Oilers website. "Going into this free agency, our main priority was to get a deal done back with Edmonton and I'm extremely happy and glad to have got that done."

Craig MacTavish signed Tubthumper to a one year deal for $1.5 million.

I really hope I don't have to use this again.

Even though there was interest around the League in Jones' services, Edmonton was always his chosen destination.

"There were options in the East and West. Ultimately, the organization wanted to weigh their options and see what was out there and at the same time so did I. But Edmonton was always where I wanted to be."

Jones was, of course, talking about the AHL East and AHL West.

Andy Grabia sums up the contract perfectly:

I wonder if Ryan Jones signed his new contract at the opposing team's blueline?

— Andy Grabia (@agrabia) July 6, 2013

Jones isn't a good player. We've talked about this for years, but somehow, the guy is still here. He's a defensive liability and a cherry-picker who has turned positioning himself outside of the entire opposing team into an art form. He's so bad that sports writers and some fans have randomly made up a narrative about him being strong on the penalty kill, and of course, he's not. I'm not sure what to expect this season from Jones, but I know what not to expect: solid defensive play and effort in the defensive zone.

If this is Craig MacTavish's attempt at strengthening the bottom six, it's a miserable failure.