Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Athletic reports that it appears that Adam Larsson and the Oilers are closing in on a new contract, with it potentially being finalized as early as next week.
Whether the Oilers announce the deal at that time, or put the contract “in the drawer” and announce it after the expansion draft, remains to be seen. If they Oilers don’t announce the contract, they can leave Larsson unprotected and protect another defenseman.
Nugent-Brown suggests the new contract would be more than 2 years but fewer than the 8 received by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. I’d imagine it would fall in the 4-5 year range.
He also reports that with Larsson signed, there’s no room for Tyson Barrie, so he’ll go to free agency. The Oilers would already have Larsson, Evan Bouchard and Ethan Bear as right-handed defensemen.
