Edmonton Oilers sign Brendan Perlini to one-year contract

The Edmonton Oilers have signed Brendan Perlini to a one-year contract worth $750,000, the club announced Saturday.

Perlini, 25, spent last season playing for HC Ambrì-Piotta in the Swiss National League where he put up nine goals and 16 points in 21 games. Perlini has big draft capital being a 1st round, 12th overall pick by the Arizona Coyotes in 2014.

Oilers head coach Dave Tippett will be quite familiar with the player, as Perlini played with the ‘Yotes for three seasons between 2016-17 and 2018-19. He’s scored double-digit goals in three of his four NHL seasons, and he’ll be joining the Oilers looking to get a new lease on life for his pro career in North America.

Perlini’s last taste of the NHL came in 2019-20, where he played one game for Chicago and 39 games for the Detroit Red Wings scoring one goal and four points. He has appeared in 239 game with the Chicago, Detroit and Arizona scoring 46 goals and 76 points.

His underlying numbers have not been kind. Between 2017-18 and 2019-20, the last three seasons of NHL action for Perlini, the teams he played for controlled 46.58 percent of the shot attempts, 42.48 percent of the goals, and 42.14 percent of the expected goals while posting a 99.2 PDO.

Simply put, it will be tough for Perlini to come in and win a spot in camp. He joins a team with the deepest forward group it has had arguably since the Mark Messier days.