Oilers Sign Tkachev To An Entry Level Deal

There's no official word from the Oilers yet, but Mark Spector, who tends to be in the know when it comes to the team, is saying that the Oilers and Vladimir Tkachev have agreed to terms on a three-year entry level contract.

The Edmonton Oilers have agreed to a 3-year entry level deal with the small but skilled Vladimir Tkachev. He'll be heading to Moncton.

— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) September 30, 2014

Even without confirmation from the Oilers I think it's safe to assume that Spector is right about this. Tkachev, who went undrafted in June and was an invite to the team's rookie camp before being an invite to the main camp, has had an excellent training camp thus far, and with the deadline to sign him looming, it makes sense that the Oilers finally got around to pulling the trigger on this signing.

But even with the good training camp and his great numbers with the Moncton Wildcats - 10 goals, 20 assists in 20 games - Tkachev is likely still a ways away from making a real impact with the Oilers. Listed at 5'8" and 141lbs he looks absolutely tiny on the ice, a situation made more comical when skating on a line with Bogdan Yakimov. Tkachev might not be able to do much about his height, but he is going to need to put on a couple of pounds if he wants to play in the NHL.

Today though, this is a good signing by the Oilers. It's a low risk move, all it cost the Oilers is a little bit of money, but with a lot of potential upside.

Update

The deal is for less money than I'd have expected too. I thought he might get second round money. Nope.

Tkachev's 3-yr deal with EDM: $550/575/600,000 in NHL. He'll receive 55k/year as a signing bonus. Less AV than 7th rd'er Greg Chase.

— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) September 30, 2014