Edmonton Oilers sign forward Lane Pederson to two-year contract

Pederson, 25, has played 71 NHL games over four years with four teams. Undrafted, Pederson got his start with the Arizona Coyotes as a free agent after wrapping up his Major Junior career with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos.

He played in the Coyotes’ organization from 2017-18 through 2020-21 before the San Jose Sharks traded for him in 2021. He spent the following season there, and split time between the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets last season.

All this time, Pederson has bounced between the American League and NHL. He’s totalled four goals and 11 points in his 71 NHL games, but has scored at a solid clip in the AHL piling up 84 goals and 166 points in 227 games. The center has won 48.8 percent of his faceoffs at the NHL level and win the Blue Jackets this year, won a staggering 57 percent of them.

His underlying numbers are nothing of note and hard to decipher given his limited playing time in the NHL. According to hockeyviz.com, however, at even-strength this year he contributed offence at a league-average rate with a knack for getting to the front of the net. Defensively, however, he contributed at a nine percent rate below league average. Again, I wouldn’t put a lot of weight behind these numbers at this point in time.

Pederson will likely come into Oilers training camp and compete for the fourth-line center role.