Edmonton Oilers: Looking at expiring contracts – UFA edition

LW Joakim Nygard, expiring contract $875,000

Nygard was the other European experiment brought in to fill out his bottom six depth two seasons ago, and once again it was a miss. He has speed but he completely lacks the hands to play in the NHL.

Like Ennis and Haas, Nygard has wilted under the better depth on the team this year. He only played nine games all season, mostly on the fourth line, and produced zero offence. Even his +/- dipped to -2 from 0 two seasons ago.

As you would expect, he doesn’t do much of anything else with that few amount of games played.

Also a huge tell is unlike Haas who at least got some time in, Nygard was a healthy scratch in both of the Oiler’s playoff series the last two seasons. That’s a huge tell to what Dave Tippett thinks of him.

Chances he’s re-signed – 0%. We already know he’s not coming back, as the sweat wasn’t even dry on the players’ foreheads before this came out. Literally the same day Winnipeg beat us in triple OT that last game. Nygard was obviously working on this long beforehand, maybe they got the contract ready for him after he left to come here for training camp and all he had to do was sign it. Either way, it’s fine because we won’t miss him. Don’t expect the Oilers to mount some sort of challenge to the timing of the signing as Nygard isn’t important enough to bring back. It was a nice try for Holland but it didn’t pan out. It happens. Not the end of the world if a low-risk bet by a GM doesn’t work out.

Predicted contract – N/A