The Edmonton Oilers raised more than a few eyebrows when they announced the signing of former Ottawa Senators prospect Alex Formenton.
Yes, there was some surprise at the signing given the 26-year-old’s checkered history. The surprise was further heightened amid the desperation in Edmonton’s move.
Now, GM Stan Bowman has pretty much confirmed just how needy the club truly is.
Bowman, speaking with Oilers insider Jason Gregor, made it clear that injuries played a crucial role in the organization scraping the bottom of the barrel ahead of training camp.
“We were set with our roster until Savoie got hurt, and then around the same time we learned Janmark would be out…”
That situation certainly created a need for depth, prompting the club to look around.
“We knew that Savvy was going to miss some games, not just missing camp. So, at that point, we’re started to look around at options on the penalty kill in particular, because that was an area that we struggled last year, and Henrique and Savvy were probably our two best killers, so there’s was a concern about how are we going to fill that void internally.“
So, it seems the move is pretty much Formenton being earmarked for penalty kill duty. That is, of course, if Formenton can prove he still has NHL-level stuff.
The former second-round pick has been away from the NHL for about four seasons. While he played in Switzerland during his hiatus from North American hockey, he’s pretty much a question mark moving forward.
Oilers Pretty Much Experimenting With Alex Formenton
Judging from Bowman’s comments, it seems that the Oilers are essentially experimenting with Alex Formenton to see if something sticks.
“So, we started to look around at players that were available. I called some team about possible trades to see what the market was like for penalty killers and the free agents that are remaining, there are still guys out there, but really none of them are penalty kill guys.”
Likely, there were some players available out there. Most probably, the asking price was far too high. And instead of bringing back someone like Adam Henrique, the club figured it would be better and cheaper to sign Formenton to a one-year, $850K deal.
What to read next:
Edmonton Exercising Wishful Thinking with Signing
Ultimately, the Oilers are using Alex Formenton as an exercise in wishful thinking.
“We then went through the exercise to see how we could help the penalty kill and it led to a lot of conversations with Alex and looking into the situation. And based on his profile as a player and his player type skill set, that’s how we really narrowed our focus and looked at a lot of other options, but didn’t feel that any of them were going to fit this role as well as we hope Alex will.”
The Oilers can only hope this signing works out. If it doesn’t, well, it won’t cost the organization much. However, the damage could come from the lack of depth and help on the team’s subpar penalty kill.
There is as much upside to this deal as there is downside. But if there is one thing certain, the Oilers are acting from a position of desperation, not strength.
Oilers’ Alex Formenton Signing Shows How Desperate They Are