The Edmonton Oilers took care of some housekeeping Monday morning.

The team announced they had re-signed Noah Philp to a one-year contract, but that’s not the only thing they took care of. According to PuckPedia, the team has re-signed pending unrestricted free agent winger Kasperi Kapanen to a one-year, $1.3 million contract. The deal carries no trade protection.

Kapanen joined the Oilers as a waiver claim in November, scoring five goals and 13 points in 57 regular-season games with the team. He drew in for 12 playoff games, scoring three goals and six points, getting the game-winning and series-winning goal in Game 5 of the Oilers’ second-round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights.

It was an up-and-down campaign for Kapanen, who would show well at times in the bottom-six and earn a look higher up the lineup, but couldn’t find the consistency in his game to remain there. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Oilers controlled 51.7 percent of the shot attempt share, 50.1 percent of the scoring chance share, 52.8 percent of the high-danger scoring chances and 51.1 percent of the expected goal share. The Oilers, however, got heavily outscored 37-20 with very low on-ice shooting percentages and save percentages, with 6.9 percent and .863 percent, respectively.

According to Hockeyviz, he drove offence at a 10 percent rate below league average, defence at a one percent rate below league average, and play on the penalty kill at a one percent rate below league average.

Overall, his contributions have made him a high-end fourth-line player. One of Kapanen’s strengths is his speed, ranking in the 87th percentile in top skating speed in the regular season and in the 92nd percentile in the playoffs, according to NHL Edge. 

His contract comes in slightly higher than what salary cap projectors Evolving Hockey and AFP Analytics projected, who had him pegged for a $1.2 million and $936,431 cap hits, respectively.

Kapanen will be in the mix for a bottom-six spot this season, though there’s expected to be higher competition for NHL roles with the team being active in acquiring European and college free agents earlier this spring who can compete for those spots.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.