Stan Bowman certainly has self-confidence. Only a year removed from inking Trent Frederic to a too long and too rich deal, Bowman decided to prioritize his trade deadline acquisitions from the Chicago Blackhawks, where Bowman was previous general manager, are long term answers as the Edmonton Oilers seek to find their way back to the Stanley Cup Final. Both Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy will be Oilers until the end of the decade, which may also be the end of Connor McDavid's championship window.
This isn't to say that these signings are obviously bad, overpayments, or poorly thought through, but it's notable that, after having his fingers burnt on the Frederic deal, Bowman didn't hesitate to reach back into the fire. Dickinson signed a five year deal, with either no movement or no trade clauses in each. He's a 31 year old today and his $4 million salary works out to about 4% of the $104 million salary cap. He doesn't have to score 50 goals to make that number a value.
Age, injury and peak production
There is no question that Bowman knows Dickinson well. he played for him in Chicago and it's not uncommon for a GM to go after players he knows well. The Oilers don't need a scoring center, since they have the two best of those in the league, and there's only so much ice time to go around. Dickinson, therefore, has been brought in to play the depth role he's most suited for. Limiting opposing offense, killing penalties, and ideally chipping in points more often than he and his linemates get scored on.
A look at Dickinson's career advanced stats doesn't necessarily show that he's the Selke-worthy candidate one might hope. He's played most of his career on average or awful team, and the statistics are representative of that fact. The truncated Oilers playoff run, in which he scored two goals in four games, was only the third postseason visit of his career. Great players can certainly be hiding on bad teams. We only need to look at former Vancouver Canuck Vasily Podkolzin to see how a player can thrive in a new environment.
Dickinson certainly can help the Oilers, and in his small sample size (made smaller by untimely injuries that lingered into the playoffs), he hasn't looked out of place in and Oiler uniform. But for his performance to justify the lack of flexilibity in his five year contract, he's going to have to be a difference maker in some way during his limited minutes on the ice. If he slows, due to age or injury, the Stan Bowman hasn't given the Oilers an easy way out of the deal.
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