Granlund could make a killing on special teams

The Edmonton Oilers signed Markus Granlund because he could check and kill penalties.

“So you are better defensively than your brother (Mikael)?” he was asked.

“I hope so,” the former Vancouver Canucks forward said with a laugh.

“You don’t make as much money as your brother, though,” continued a reporter.

“I don’t care about that,” said the centre/winger, who signed a one-year deal for $1.3 million while Granlund’s older sibling, now playing in Nashville, makes $5.75 million and is a UFA in 2020.

The Oilers were 30th on the PK at 74.8 per cent with Chicago 31st at 72.7 per cent last year. Granlund did his best work on a shutdown line with fourth-line centre Jay Beagle and helped the Canucks to an 11th overall penalty kill with centre Brandon Sutter. When Beagle, Sutter and Elias Pettersson were hurt, he also moved from wing to centre and did a nice job. But he’s more of a winger than a pivot.

He scored 19 goals in 2016-17 with eight and 12 the last two seasons. The Oilers feel he has 10 in him, which is just fine.

The Canucks didn’t qualify him at $1.4 million, but the Oilers quickly jumped on him because he has played in the Pacific.

“On the PK, you have to be a smart player and be able to read how the other players are. That’s a good part of my game.”

Slovak Tomas Jurco, signed to a one-way, one-year $750,000 deal, was part of the Calder Cup-winning Charlotte Checkers with 18 points in 18 games. He’s probably taking the spot of winger Ty Rattie on the depth chart.

Winger Jujhar Khaira was re-signed for two more years at a cap hit of $1.2 million. Oilers GM Ken Holland is hopeful he can be a double-digit scorer.

Holland has talked to countless teams about unhappy winger Jesse Puljujarvi, but unless he gets a veteran winger who can play in the top nine or somebody else’s top prospect spinning his wheels, there’s no trade. Holland said there is some currency in the league because of where he was drafted (fourth overall), but it might be pocket change. He knows first-rounders need time, some more than others.

Holland said he agonized over buying out Andrej Sekera because he thought he could be a mentor, a third-pairing guy.

“(Niklas) Kronwall played 18 minutes in Detroit last year,” he said. “But there was no other way to get any cap space here.” Sekera signed a one-year contract for $1.5 million in Dallas with bonuses.