The Edmonton Oilers appear to be ready to make their first free agency splash.
St. Louis Blues writers Andy Strickland and Jeremy Rutherford have both said on Twitter 34-year-old Kyle Brodziak is expected to sign with the Oilers.
TSN’s Darren Dreger confirmed the deal this morning, saying the two-year deal will pay him $1.1-million in year one and $1.2-million in year two.
Originally drafted by the Oilers in the 7th round of the 2003 Entry Draft, Brodziak played with the Oilers for four seasons accumulating 59 points in 175 games.
Traded at 24 years old, the Oilers flipped him to the Minnesota Wild for fourth and fifth round draft picks.
At the time, then-Oilers GM Steve Tambellini told The Canadian Press “we do need to change our lineup a little bit, we have too many bodies at forward. We’re willing to give some people a chance that maybe they haven’t had before.”
After being moved he has played just under 850 NHL games with Minnesota and the St. Louis Blues.
Brodizak is coming off of one of his more productive seasons putting up scoring 10 goals and 23 assists in 81 games with the Blues all the while only playing 13:28 a night.
If the numbers are true, then I am very okay with this deal. Brodziak will slide in as a versatile fourth-line centre. He put up poor possession numbers, spotting a -4.96 relative corsi for, but his relative goals for were great, at 5.81.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
On Twitter: @zjlaing
I’ve always liked Brodziak. Question of the day: Can PC not overpay someone for once??? What does that mean for Strome who hasn’t signed yet? Cap Hell sucks.
Cap Hell sucks but damn it, it will keep you honest in not overpaying which happens 90 per cent of the time in free agency.
Spector: Kyle Brodziak closing in on Oilers this morning. Could be surprised by another offer, but expecting two years and an AAV of around $1M for the 34 YO in EDM.
Just wait for him to be a Jussi Jokinen.
I’ve always like Brodziak. The price is right too.
Still, a part of me wishes the Oil went for Yak.
Yakupov had 9 points in 10 games with 18-year-old-playing-my-first-NHL-games-ever McDavid.
Imagine him signing for $800K to play with 21-year-old-I-think-I-have-this-NHL-thing-figured-out McDavid.
And then you put him and Bouchard on a PP managed by Gultzen? Goalz for dayz
People still beating the dead Yak horse. Opportunity cost. There are MANY more players that will make a bigger difference on McDavid’s wing. Yak was a bust for the Oilers, period.
I’m all ears. Which player for under a million would get a point per game with McDavid?
Yak wasn’t even that good with McDavid. He still looked lost and put up mostly secondary assists. He wasn’t scoring much.
Darren Dreger
Verified account @DarrenDreger
Kyle Brodziak confirmed to Edmonton. Two years. $1.1 mil and $1.2 mil.
But can Chairelli buy him out next year lol
Glad we won the Brodziak sweepstakes. Should be great on Mcdavid’s wing
I haven’t seen anything confirmed on Brodziak yet?
2.3 mill sorry
Meh
Good signings for us today. Chia is doing fine , cleaning up the mess for the worst GM in team history, Tambolini, we have felt his poor drafting for 10 years and finally we have turned a corner. You can say all you want about Chia, but he is 3 times the GM Tambo was . At least we have a competitive AHL line up full of depth prospects and a decent line up in the NHL. Bottom 6 looks solid with Yamo and kids to play in the farm and develop
He has done a good job restocking the prospect pool, but I’m not sold on how he runs the big club. Many errors have been made.
Brodziak had about 2/3 defensive zone starts last year and, if I remember correctly from a post yesterday, his ES P/60 was actually 1.89 which is a very good number.
I don’t expect him to repeat his offense from last year, however, he’s an established and solid 4C which will allow Khaira to play LW in the middle 6 and will shelter some of the prospects allowing them to develop in the proper leagues (i.e. not rush Benson or Marody in to the lineup).
Solid on the PK.
With some of the prices being paid for bottom 6 players (Reaves, Ryan, etc.), the cap hit looks great (and is essentially fully buryable in the minors if necessary).
Good signing. I love bringing Kyle Brodziak back as our 4th line centre. I think we need some of the veteran savvy he will have, too. Welcome back, Kyle!