Edmonton Oilers Sign Another Depth Forward

Curtis Lazar Signed to One-Year Deal by Edmonton Oilers

Lazar has played for Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks and the New Jersey Devils across his 11-year NHL career. The 30-year-old totaled two goals and three assists for five points in 48 games with the Devils last season. He had an average time of 10 minutes and 34 seconds last campaign. Lazar had a Corsi for of 39.6 and a relative Corsi of -14.4

The Salmon Arm, British Columbia native has totaled 47 goals and 78 assists for 125 points in 572 career games. Ottawa originally drafted in the first round, 17th overall of the 2013 NHL Draft. His best offensive season was when he totaled eight goals and 16 points with the Bruins in the 2021-22 season.

He’s represented his native Canada in his international career. Lazar won gold as part of the the Canadian squad at the 2012 Hlinka-Gretzky Tournament. He was also part of the gold-medal winners at the 2015 IIHF World Juniors held in Toronto and Montreal.

What It Means

This could be seen as a move that may see Lazar as a replacement for Connor Brown, who went to the Devils in free agency. Lazar is a big body at six feet tall and 211 pounds. He’ll likely slot into the bottom six and provide some grit in that part of the lineup.

Edmonton already made some signings with Andrew Mangiapane last Tuesday night. However, this is another depth signing for the club. The Oilers took care of some big business with the Evan Bouchard deal. However, there’s still work that needs to be done.

Edmonton wants to take care of the Connor McDavid contract before the end of the summer. This is a low-cost deal that will help fill out the lineup.