Andrew Mangiapane speaks on joining former rival Oilers and offer from Leafs
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Anytime you get a chance to play alongside the best hockey player in the world, you take it, as did Andrew Mangiapane on July 1, when he signed with the Edmonton Oilers over the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency, a two-year deal worth $7.2M.
"It's kind of crazy," Andrew said when interviewed post-signing. "If you told me two years ago I'd be playing for the Edmonton Oilers, I'd be laughing at you...I have this great opportunity to play on a Stanley Cup contender."
The reason he would have laughed two years ago is because Mangiapane was then playing for the rival Calgary Flames, and believed it was an obstacle, when in fact it was one of the reasons the Oilers pursued the gritty forward.
Andrew Mangiapane played seven years for the Calgary Flames, before heading east to Washington, where signed last summer, recording 14 goals and 14 assists in 81 games played. His best season was with Calgary in 2021-22, when he scored 35 goals and 20 assists, for 55 points.
Following Mangiapane signing with Edmonton, both Connor McDavid and Kris Knoblauch reached out to welcome him to the Oilers, with the coach indicating he would get an opportunity to play with McDavid and/or Draisaitl. Though typically a middle-six forward, Andrew is motivated to play on Edmonton's top lines, but would need to find his game again.
"They roughly indicated that I'll start with McDavid or Draisaitl, but that's on me to be able to perform like I know I can...excited to play with those guys."
Before he signed with the Oilers, however, the Toronto native was considering an offer from the Maple Leafs, but decided Edmonton was a better fit, in addition to his preference to avoid the fan and media frenzy in Toronto.
"I was definitely hearing out the Leafs," Andrew said. "There were pros and cons there. But there was no real offer from the Leafs and Edmonton gave me this great deal."
According to SN 590 The Fan analyst and former player Nick Kypreos, there may have been other reasons for choosing to play out west. "Mangiapane is a Toronto kid, last I heard he was maybe concerned about playing in this market as a local."
Elliotte Friedman, however, cites a lack of roster spots as the reason the Leafs didn't pursue Andrew. "The Leafs have indicated that one of the reasons they didn't get Mangiapane is that they had to move some bodies out and he didn't want to wait. Edmonton's deal was right there."
In any case, Andrew Mangiapane will be playing for the Oilers in 2025-26, contributing his gritty defensive style, and hopefully, scoring goals for a team with which he's excited to play, possibly even with players that should help his game. There's no better way to bounce back from a down year, than to lineup with one of the games best assist guys. That alone, in my opinion, should be good for 15 goals; the rest is on Andrew Mangiapane to figure out.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 10 | 506 ANSWERS Andrew Mangiapane speaks on joining former rival Oilers and offer from Leafs is Andrew Mangiapane a top-6, middle-6, or bottom-6 player in your opinion? | ||
| top-6 | 207 | 40.9 % |
| middle-6 | 271 | 53.6 % |
| bottom-6 | 28 | 5.5 % |
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