Ryan McLeod finally has a contract.

The Edmonton Oilers and the young pivot agreed to a one-year contract worth $798k right before the start of training camp…

McLeod was selected in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft from the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL. He played one more OHL season before turning pro and had a solid debut with the Bakersfield Condors in 2019-20, scoring 23 points across 56 games.

While hockey was paused in North America due to the pandemic, McLeod played in Switzerland, where he’d score 11 points over 15 games for Zug EV. McLeod joined the Condors when AHL play resumed and he broke out with 28 points over 28 games.

That performance earned McLeod a late-season call-up to the Oilers in which he played in 10 regular season games and all four of the team’s playoff games. He started the 2021-22 season in the AHL but was called up for good after seven games.

McLeod scored 21 points in 71 games in his first full NHL season and he added four more points in 16 games during the team’s playoff run.

In an ideal situation, the Oilers would have been able to get McLeod inked to an inexpensive bridge deal following the conclusion of his entry-level contract. But the Oilers are pressed up right to the top of the salary cap, so McLeod got squeezed into a very cheap one-year contract.

He’ll again be a restricted free agent next summer with an opportunity to earn a fairly significant raise if he has a strong season.