On the eve of the 2023 playoffs kicking off, the Edmonton Oilers have taken care of a bit of business signing defenceman Cam Dineen to a one-year, two-way contract extension.
News of the signing was first reported by PuckPedia Sunday morning and later confirmed by the Oilers.
Dineen, 24, joined the Oilers organization in the trade that the team also acquire Nick Bjugstad. Sent to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, Dineen has appeared in 19 games scoring two goals and 12 points. The signing will provide some extra depth for the Condors now, and into the future as well.
The team is looking a bit thin on the backend next season, especially with Michael Kesselring heading to Arizona in that same aforementioned trade.
Here’s some of what Oilersnation’s Bruce Curlock wrote about Dineen at the time of the trade:
Dineen is a very polished offensive defenceman. He runs the first powerplay for the Tuscon Roadrunners and is on the first pairing at even-strength. This year he has 4-21—35 in 50 games, which ranks him fifth in AHL defender scoring. Now the rub with Dineen is that he has scored a lot on the powerplay. While Kesselring has one point on the powerplay, Dineen has twenty. At evens, Kesselring has actually outscored Dinner 21 to 15. Nevertheless, Dineen is an excellent offensive defenceman with wonderful puck skills.
The issue for Dineen is that he is not a great defender. His size is an issue for certain and he defends gets moved off the puck quite easily. In addition, he doesn’t always appear to play with enough edge around the net to prevent loose pucks from turning into chances for the other team.
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@thenationnetwork.com.