Edmonton Oilers ink Arvidsson, get Draisaitl some help on second line

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The Edmonton Oilers didn’t wait long before getting Leon Draisaitl some help on the second line.

Edmonton hit the free agent market early on Monday, signing former Los Angeles King Viktor Arvidsson to a two-year contract worth $4 million a year.

Edmonton also bulked up the blue line depth, signing six-foot-five, 220-pound Josh Brown (formerly of the Arizona Coyotes) to a three-year deal at $1 million a year. Brown also played in Florida, Ottawa and Boston and had 10 points and 75 penalty minutes in 51 games last year.

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After the Oilers raided one of L.A.’s free agents, the Kings returned the favour about a half hour later, signing Warren Foegele to a three-year deal worth $3.5 million a year.

Foegele is coming off a 20-goal season and strong playoff performance but the Oilers are too tight to the cap to make an extension work for him.

Edmonton has long been searching for an affordable winger to complement Draisaitl and Arvidsson seems like a solid fit. He’s a competitive player who can finish (he had 49 and 59 points in his previous two seasons with the Los Angeles Kings before back surgery cost him most of last year).

The former Nashville Predator played several years with Mattias Ekholm, so the organization has some inside information on what he’s like a player and a teammate. The Oilers also know him quite well from seeing him face-to-face the last two years in the playoffs.

The 31-year-old has 37 points in 72 career playoff games.

More to come.

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