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Breaking down Edmonton Oilers' salary cap situation after Klingberg signing

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Jan 18 2025, 6:13 pm
Breaking down Edmonton Oilers' salary cap situation after Klingberg signing
Dan Hamilton/Imagn Images

After plenty of speculation in recent days, the Edmonton Oilers officially signed John Klingberg on Friday morning.

The 32-year-old defenceman agreed to a one-year deal that has a salary of $1 million along with a $350,000 signing bonus.

As per PuckPedia, Klingberg’s cap hit, had the contract been registered yesterday, would have been $1.74 million. It’s higher than $1.35 million because of the signing bonus on a deal that was signed mid-season.

Klingberg’s contract never ended up being registered yesterday, however. If made official today, PuckPedia has confirmed it will instead carry a $1.75 million cap hit.

What puts an additional wrinkle into all of this is the situation involving Evander Kane. The 33-year-old, who holds a $5.125 million cap hit, has been on long-term injured reserve all season long. He recently underwent a knee procedure, and a return date remains unclear.

If the Oilers continue to utilize that LTIR slot for the remainder of the season and stay under the cap, Klingberg’s deal will only be charged for $824,000 to their cap space. Assuming the veteran defenceman’s deal gets finalized today, the Oilers will have just under $3.15 million to work with.

Should Kane remain on LTIR for the remainder of the season, which many believe he will, this gives the Oilers some wiggle room to make another move ahead of the trade deadline.

There is a strong chance they look to add another defenceman to their roster in hopes of bolstering their back end, though Daily Hive’s Preston Hodgkinson mentions they could also be in search of a scoring winger and/or a fourth-line centre.

As for Klingberg, there hasn’t been a date announced yet as to when he could make his Oilers debut. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that he has been skating for six months and is looking to prove that his hip issues, which he had season-ending surgery for in December of 2023, are in the past.

This signing is a bit of a risk for the Oilers given their limited cap space, but could end up being a massive win if Klingberg is healthy and able to perform like he did for many seasons with the Dallas Stars.

 

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