Oilers agree to two year contract with McLeod

*Photo from Oil on Whyte*

   Another piece of the puzzle has been put into place. The Edmonton Oilers and center Ryan McLeod have agreed to a two year, $4.2 million contract, according to an announcement by the team on Tuesday.

   McLeod was an RFA and had an arbitration hearing scheduled between him and the Oilers. That hearing is no longer, as they've agreed to a new contract that pays McLeod $2.1 million annually over the next two years. He'll once again be an RFA with arbitration rights when his contract expires.

   Asked about his new deal, McLeod said that "I don't think any player wants to go through arbitration, I don't think it's fun for the player or the team, so I'm happy it was done before that and I'm looking forward to the season now. I'm looking to have a huge year for this team and I think winning makes everyone happier, so we're just looking to do that."

   Last season, McLeod had a breakout season with the Oilers. He set career highs in goals with 11, tied a career high in assists with 12, and a career high in points with 23, posting a career high +4 rating while averaging a career high 14:11 of ice time in 57 games.

   At the faceoff dot, McLeod won 48.2 percent of his draws last season. In the playoffs, the 3rd line center for the Oilers had no goals but added 5 assists in 12 playoff games. The Oilers were eliminated in the second round by the Vegas Golden Knights, who later won the Stanley Cup.

   McLeod said of heading into next year that "I think everyone is super excited for the year, we're all going to head back early and get things rolling. The group is super motivated. It's obviously not the way we wanted to end the season last year, but the group we had this year, it's mostly the same guys with a few additions, so we're super excited to get the ball rolling and hopefully take a big step this year."

   Originally a second round pick, McLeod has spent 3 seasons in the NHL, all with the Oilers. In that time, he has accumulated 20 goals and 25 assists for 45 points, averaging 13:21 of ice time per game with a +0 rating in 138 regular season games. McLeod also has 3 goals and 6 assists with a -6 rating in 32 playoff games.

   With McLeod under contract, defenseman Evan Bouchard is the last RFA the Oilers need to sign ahead of the season. They have about $3.5 million in cap space left to make it happen.