Edmonton Oilers sign Adam Erne to one-year contract

Fresh off a professional tryout with the Edmonton Oilers, the club has signed forward Adam Erne to a one-year contract.

The deal will pay him $775,000 for the season.

Erne, 28, spent the last four years with the Detroit Red Wings, scoring 27 goals and 62 points across 241 games. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning 33rd overall in 2012 and spent the first three years of his NHL career there.

He appeared in six pre-season games for the Oilers, scoring one goal and playing 12:30 per night. His underlying numbers weren’t favourable; with him on the ice at 5v5, the Oilers controlled 37.66 percent of the shot attempt share, 29.63 percent of the expected goal share, and were outscored 5-1.

Erne, however, has shown well in the past, averaging 25 points per 82 games over the last three years. He’s a physical presence, having laid 13.26 per hour at 5×5 last year, among the highest such rates in the entire league.

At 5×5 last year with him on the ice, the Red Wings controlled just 41.62 percent of the shot attempt share, 40.35 percent of the expected goal share, and 36.36 percent of the goals scored. Those numbers came in roughly five to six percent below team average last season, but it’s worth noting he had a 97.8 PDO and a .896 on-ice save percentage. With better linemates and a better team overall iced by the Oilers, it’s reasonable to expect some improvements to those numbers.

Erne can be liked as a Klim Kostin replacement of sorts, given the pair share similar scoring and hit rates over the last number of years.

As noted earlier Friday by Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, who reported the two sides were nearing a deal, Erne is likely to draw into the Oilers’ lineup Saturday night when the Vancouver Canucks come to town.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.