The Oilers have agreed to terms with D Kevin Gravel on a one-year contract as per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The left-shot D split last season between the LA Kings and their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.
Gravel is a similar player to Eric Gryba. He’s a shutdown D who plays a physical style and defends quite well. That said, there is almost no offense to his game, and the value comes in PK’ing and defending in his zone.
The 6’4”, 212 pound blueliner is only 26 years old and has good discipline, taking just eight penalty minutes in his last two seasons of NHL work.
Expect to see Gravel as Edmonton’s seventh D on opening night.
UPDATE: As per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, the deal is one-year, two-way and worth $700,000 per at the NHL level.
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