The Edmonton Oilers made some news today with the signing of college free agent defender Jordan Oesterle. Oesterle played three seasons at the University of Western Michigan, and is seen as a good skater with puck-moving ability. Oesterle’s deal is a two-year entry level contract that starts next season.
In the meantime, Oesterle was signed to an ATO and will report to Oklahoma City to finish the season with the Barons. He’ll be expected to attend Oilers rookie camp in July, and will get a chance to impress in training camp next fall.
Oesterle isn’t a guy that can just jump right into the lineup. He’s got decent size, standing in at six feet flat and 185 pounds, and brings a good offensive game. Oesterle is a guy that is mobile, moves the puck well, and can be considered a player that will make his money putting up points.
His defensive game, according to scouts and reports on twitter, needs some work, and is not yet at the NHL level. Some might even be able to call him another version of Justin Schultz, a young player who skates well, moves the puck well, but struggles defensively. He’ll get a chance to learn under Todd Nelson in Oklahoma City for the foreseeable future, and that is a good thing for both him and the Oilers.
This is a signing that makes a lot of sense. Edmonton has a ton of defensive prospects, but rumblings are they may be willing to ship out one or two to add a veteran defender. A signing like this just replenishes the system and adds depth to a very important position.
Oesterle fits in perfect with the Oilers vision, he’s got decent size, and fits that mobile defender mold that Dallas Eakins and Craig MacTavish seem to really like. I’d imagine Oesterle gets time to develop, and I’d imagine he’ll get a long look in OKC next season.
In three years at Western Michigan, Oesterle put up 34 points in 117 games, including 17 points in 34 games this year, while also blocking 70 shots and accumulating 27 penalty minutes.
Injuries Hit Hard:
Over the weekend, we found out that Ryan Jones was done for the season with a torn PCL, today we found out that both Luke Gazdic and Andrew Ference are done for the year.
Gazdic, the rookie tough guy claimed off waivers in September, injured his shoulder and will undergo surgery this week. This marks the third season in a row an Oiler has ended his season suffering from a shoulder injury. Gazdic is expect to miss six months, which would put him as being ready in early October, so he will likely miss training camp in the fall.
Ference, who last played on Friday night, will end his season with that OT winner against the Ducks. He’s been suffering from a torn pectoral muscle for a few weeks now, and the word is that he too is done for the season. This doesn’t seem like a serious injury or one that will cost him time next year, just a situation where the season is over and there is no need to further push the veteran.
As mentioned above, Ference is expected to be fine and will be ready for training camp according to all reports.
In response to the injuries, the Oilers have recalled forward Will Acton from the Oklahoma City Barons. Acton will likely slide into the center spot on line four, while Ryan Smyth will likely shift back to the wing to replace the injured Gazdic. There have been no other call-ups at this time, but I’ll update this if anything else happens.
*****UPDATE*****: The Edmonton Oilers have just announced a one-year contract extension with center Mark Arcobello. I have to say, I was not expecting Arcobello to re-sign in Edmonton. He was very good for the Oilers this year, but was unfairly sent down late in January. Hopefully Arco gets a chance to prove himself in the NHL with the Oilers next fall.
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