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Zack Kassian Re-Signs With the Oilers for One-Year

Looks like one more year for the gritty forward.

By ryan_batty Updated
Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

When acquired from the Montreal Canadiens for Ben Scrivens, Zack Kassian was a zero risk/decent reward pick-up for the Oilers. With the Oilers retaining some of the money owed to Scrivens the dollars were basically a wash and in return the Oilers got a player that was much more likely to play in Edmonton this past season.

And play in Edmonton he did. After a short seven game stint with the Bakersfield Condors, Kassian arrived in Edmonton playing in 36 games, scoring three goals, adding five assists, and amassing 114 penalty minutes. And playing anywhere from the first to fourth line, Kassian average 12:27 of ice time per game. Kassian didn't exactly drive possession when he was on the ice but that also not what he's paid to do.

And, as reported by Bob McKenzie, that performance was enough to convince the Oilers to bring him back for another season. But with the deal reportedly being for just a single year it would appear that the Oilers are not sold on Kassian being a full time part of the team's top three lines. With that in mind I would expect the deal to be worth a little less than the $2M that he made last year. That was the the second year of a two-year deal that had an average annual value of $1.75M.

Hopefully he can be an effective top-nine player for the team next season. If not, then it's just a one-year deal, nothing too risky there.

Update

It's official. $1.5M as per Bob McKenzie. Nothing wrong with that deal.

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