Better Lait Than Never: Derek Ryan contract reaction feat. Woz

Why wouldn’t I knock out a 15-minute podcast about the Oilers re-signing Derek Ryan to a two-year contract extension? Two episodes of Better Lait Than Never in a single week? What a time to be alive.

This afternoon, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they have re-signed Derek Ryan to a two-year contract extension that carries a $900K AAV. Now with two seasons with the Oil under his belt after bailing on the horrible Calgary Flames, Derek Ryan has established himself as a reliable piece in Edmonton’s bottom six and it’s really not at all surprising to see that the team wanted him back. A veteran of 500 NHL games between three different clubs — he broke into the league in Carolina before moving on to Calgary and Edmonton respectively — Derek Ryan didn’t break into the NHL until he was 30 years old, and the result is a player that never takes anything for granted.

Now that he’s locked into a fresh two-year contract, the question for the Oilers is what else they plan on doing in their bottom six now one of those spots will (probably) be tied up by Ryan for the next year or two. Even though I’m happy to see Ryan coming back because I like the steady style he plays on a nightly basis, the thing I really liked seeing was that he took a $325K haircut to make this deal happen.  Seeing as the Oilers are pressed right up against the cap, bringing Ryan back on a cheaper deal than he was just on gives the team a (teeny tiny) shade more flexibility than they would have otherwise had as they bring back a known commodity that they can rely on while also saving a few sheckles in the process.