Cogliano Re-Signs in Edmonton

The Edmonton Oilers have signed on their last restricted free agent on Friday, inking Andrew Cogliano to a new 1-year deal, reportedly worth $1 million.  The terms of the deal are somewhat low, but after having a bit of a low scoring season previous and continually getting linked to trade rumours, there does seem to be enough reason to have such a low number at this juncture.

In 2010, Cogliano finished with only 10 goals and 18 assists, playing in all 82 games, which gave him a low points-per-game average (0.34) and a low ranking among forwards in the league (215th).  However, Cogliano is a centre and the Oilers are bracing themselves for a bunch of young, talented wingers, so this might be his year for redemption.  He will, however, have to earn the minutes with some of these top end young players and I would imagine he would be on a short leash.

Let's see how many points they think Cogliano should get this year... that should determine the kind of length his leash will get cut to.  The Hockey News says 47 points, Forecaster says 34 points, the Pooler's Guide wanted nothing to do with him in their top 150 forwards, while Dobber's guide has him at 43 points.  Bouncing back from 28 points shouldn't be too difficult and he has the speed to be someone special in Edmonton, so if you believe that to be the case, I think you have a nice frame of reference to work from this year.