Edmonton Oilers sign former 35 goal scorer Andrew Mangiapane

Mangiapane had been linked to the Edmonton Oilers by NHL insiders just before free agency. Looking to get younger and faster up front, Mangiapane is a direct fit for the Oilers' goals.

The Oilers will sign Mangiapane to a two year contract for $3.6M each year, great value for a player with his ceiling.

The 29 year old left winger had a down year last season with the Washington Capitals, only scoring 14 goals and 28 points in 81 games. Mangiapane only averaged 13:01 of ice time with the Capitals last year, and saw his ice time fall to 9:23 in the final playoff game.

However, Oilers fans are familiar with a much better version of Mangiapane from just a few years ago.

Playing with the Calgary Flames, Mangiapane showed an ability to complement their star players with his forechecking and two-way play. His career best season came in Calgary, with 35 goals and 55 points in 2021-22.

With this deal, the Edmonton Oilers will be hoping Mangiapane can be a solid fixture in their middle-six, and potentially jump up to the second line with Draisaitl.

The Oilers adding Mangiapane is currently expected to be the only major addition they'll make through the market. Seeing the rest of the contracts handed out today, that may have been the right call.

Losing quality veterans like Corey Perry, Connor Brown, Evander Kane, and Viktor Arvidsson will be a hit to the Oilers depth for now - but the team will need to get creative to add cheap talent to fill out the bottom of their lineup, and fill their roles effectively.

The Oilers front office have made a good first move offloading some salary and adding Mangiapane, but they'll need to do much more to improve this roster.