*Photo from The Athletic*
A promising young member of the Edmonton Oilers just got another year in town. The Oilers and RW Kailer Yamamoto have agreed to a one year, $1.175 million deal, according to the Oilers. Yamamoto was an RFA.
After a strong 11 goal season in 2019-2020, Yamamoto took a bit of a step back last season, scoring 8 goals and adding 13 assists, with a +9 plus/minus in an ATOI of 16:22, playing in 52 regular season games. In 8 playoff games, Yamamoto has just one assist, his only playoff action.
Yamamoto, chosen with the 22nd overall pick, a first round choice, in 2017 by the Oilers, has 20 goals and 32 assists, with a +18 plus/minus in an ATOI of 15:59, suiting up in 105 career regular season games, split between 4 years. He made his debut the season immediately after he was drafted, playing in 9 games in the 2017-2018 season.
Oilers GM Ken Holland spoke about having good youth this offseason, saying that "Part of being good in an NHL cap world is you need younger players, cheaper players, that's a part of the puzzle. If that's not part of the equation, then it gets to be much more difficult."
Entering this season, with training camp just around the corner, Yamamoto figures to be a part of the top 6 in Edmonton, likely playing alongside stars Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, which is also likely to drive up Yamamoto's point total as a result.
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