Oil Country has been in an uproar this week over the Edmonton Oilers’ recent signing of Alex Formenton, who inked a one-year, $850,000 deal with the club on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old has been out of the NHL since 2022 after he and four former Hockey Canada teammates were charged with sexual assault. All five players were eventually acquitted, and in typical fashion, the Oilers stepped in to give Formenton a second chance.

Plenty of bandwidth has already been spent debating the morality of this decision, but that’s not what I’m here to do today. For this piece, I’m instead focusing on Alex Formenton, the hockey player. What does he bring to the team? And where will he fit in the lineup?

The Oilers’ interest in Formenton began when Matt Savoie got hurt during off-season training.

Savoie progressed well offensively last season, but he was also one of the few bright spots on an abysmal penalty kill, which ranked 20th in the regular season and dead last in the playoffs. Given that they already lost PK ace Adam Henrique this off-season, missing Savoie is a tough blow. General manager Stan Bowman said the front office was concerned about the team’s ability to fill the void internally, prompting them to explore alternatives.

“So, we started to look around at players that were available,” Bowman told Jason Gregor in a recent interview. “I called some teams 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.

“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.”

A look into the numbers reveals evidence that Formenton’s penalty-killing might make him worth a look. According to HockeyStats, he ranked in the 95th percentile in PK impact across his last two seasons in the NHL, and finished second among Ottawa Senators forwards in expected goals against on the PK. He also played under D.J. Smith in Ottawa, so there’s a familiarity between the player and Edmonton’s penalty kill coach.

That’s all well and good, but it’s been over 1,500 days since Formenton’s last NHL game. If he’s going to prove himself, he will need to show the coaching staff that he still has the same PK ability in his bag. If not, his tenure with the Oilers will be short.

When Formenton last played in the NHL in 2021-22, he mostly played a third-line scoring role. The speedy, energetic winger created most of his offence in transition, registering 18 goals and 32 points in 79 games.

But where has all that offence gone?

During his time away from the NHL, Formenton spent three seasons with HC Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss National League. He played 88 games for the team and put up 52 points — well below the standard expected of an NHLer in that league. In 2025-26, he produced 0.55 points per game, which is less than former Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi (1.00), Drake Caggiula (0.65) and Gaëtan Haas (0.63). Not too encouraging.

Could some of Formenton’s decline be attributed to the off-ice distractions? Could he rebound now that he’s back in North America? These are questions he will have an opportunity to answer this season, but at least to start, the expectations should be low.

At the captain’s skate last week, we got a glimpse into some potential line combinations. Connor McDavid skated alongside Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centred Zach Hyman and Isaac Howard. If the Oilers stick with these two lines to start the season, it leaves Jason Dickinson to centre a shutdown third line, which does not sound like a fit for Formenton.

Even at his peak, Formenton struggled defensively. According to HockeyStats, his defensive impact at even strength was better than just two per cent of NHL forwards. Additionally, he ranked second-worst among Senators forwards in both goals against and expected goals against per hour in 2021-22. His scoring-chance suppression on the PK did not carry over to five-on-five play whatsoever.

Given his deteriorated offence and lack of defensive ability, Formenton isn’t really a fit with any of Edmonton’s top three centres. If he makes the team out of camp, I suspect his usage will be limited to fourth-line minutes at five-on-five.

Formenton’s $850,000 league-minimum contract means he can easily be buried in Bakersfield, if need be, but I believe he has a strong chance of making the opening-night roster. The Oilers targeted him for a reason, and unless he stumbles badly in the preseason, they’ll probably stay the course. While he will probably start on the fourth line, Formenton has a massive opportunity here, especially given that just a couple of years ago, he appeared to be headed for a career in construction.

It won’t take long before we know whether the Formenton experiment was worth the PR headache for the Oilers. He may only have until Savoie gets back to prove he’s still an NHL player.

Toronto is calling — and this isn’t your average hockey trip.

The first 2026/27 Nation Vacation presented by JetSet Parking is here, and we’re taking over Toronto for one hell of a weekend.

A hockey trip is good. A Nation Vacation is better.