Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has been considering the best ways to spend the extra salary cap dollars he gained in the Darnell Nurse trade, and as of today, we know where $1.2 million of that money is going. Colton Dach has signed a two year extension, meaning he'll be playing for his hometown Oilers until the end of the 2027-28 season.
Dacher 👊
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) July 12, 2026
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The #Oilers have signed forward Colton Dach to a two-year contract extension with an AAV of $1.2 million. pic.twitter.com/29pjRSs3eo
Dach came over from the Chicago Blackhawks in the deal that saw Andrew Mangiapane and a 1st round pick head the other way. Jason Dickinson was the main piece for the Oilers, but if Dach can develop into a middle six forward at the National Hockey League level, the deal starts to look a bit lopsided in Edmonton's favor.
Stats and progression
Dach isn't yet a perfect player. He brings plenty of positives to the ice with his 6'4" size and above NHL average skating speed, but at this point in his career, his point production hasn't been able to offset his defensive gaps. He finished last season at -15, which was the same plus/minus as the previous year. Similarly, his advanced statistics were slanted toward the negative.
On the other hand, Dach was playing on the Blackhawks. While Connor Bedard's team may have a bright future ahead of them, that day isn't yet at hand, and Oiler fans are well aware that young players can struggle in a losing environment. Though only dressing for eight games as an Oiler, Dach looked significantly better. He managed a neutral plus-minus and his Corsi and Fenwick shot up drastically. We should always be wary of small sample size, but often a team's overall poor performance can disguise the abilities or competencies of individual players.
In the postseason, during his average of 8 minutes of ice time, Dach only finished -1 once. He also had an assist in Game 1, so in a series where plenty of his teammates underperformed, he broke even. As long as he can stay healthy, the left-shooting center could be a great Oiler over the next two season. He has suffered from a bit of an injury bug, most recently missing 12 regular season games after joining the Oilers, and double digits the year prior as well. But he's young, and it's too soon to label his as 'injury prone". Bowman has made a reasonable bet with Dach's two year deal, now it's up to the player to make it pay off.
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