Pakarinen deal gives Oilers more options
The Edmonton Oilers’ signing of winger Iiro Pakarinen to a oneyear, US$725,000 contract checks a couple of necessary boxes for the NHL club.
The Oilers need at least two forwards exposed for the Las Vegas expansion draft June 21 who have played at least 70 NHL games, and now Benoit Pouliot and Pakarinen, who has played 94 games the last two seasons, are available to the Golden Knights.
It’s unlikely Pouliot, who has two years left at US$4 million a season, will get taken by the Golden Knights unless the Oilers sweetened the pot for Vegas general manager George McPhee, either with a draft pick or a prospect.
But Pakarinen, only 25, would certainly be more palatable.
If the Finnish forward isn’t taken in the expansion draft, the Oilers need a security blanket for teenager Jesse Puljujarvi. When Puljujarvi, 19, who was sent to Bakersfield halfway through this past season — he was with the Oilers for 29 games — he could always lean on Pakarinen for help as a fellow countryman. With Puljujarvi expected to make the Oilers this upcoming year, somewhere in the top nine, it would certainly help to have the older Pakarinen here as a sounding board.
On top of that, Pakarinen is a useful role player, although the unsigned winger Tyler Pitlick is better and could fill the same role if the unrestricted free agent comes back.
Pitlick has better hands than Pakarinen — he had eight goals in 31 games last year — but can’t seem to avoid getting hurt.
Pakarinen played only 15 games in 2016-17 — including Game 1 against San Jose — in large part because he ripped up his knee in the pre-season Kraft Hockeyville game in Vernon, B.C., against the Los Angeles Kings. But he can skate and loves to hit, and can play nine to 10 minutes a game, helping with the penalty-kill. He has scored just eight goals in 94 career games, but he’s the right pricepoint in the cap world even if it’s a one-way contract (same money here or in Bakersfield).