Fringe Signings (Jul 24)

The Ottawa Senators added to their stable of capable defensemen, signing Johnny Oduya to a 1-year, $1 million deal, which will also give him the opportunity for $1.25 million more in 35+ contract bonuses.

Oduya will bring a wealth of experience to this Senators club and he should be able to help fill in some of the gaps that Marc Methot left behind.  Between Dallas and Chicago in the 2017 season, the 35-year old played in 52 games, scoring 2 goals and 9 points, good enough for 168th among all defensemen.

I don't think he's a guy you should be looking for at the draft, but he'll be one of those good pick-ups midway through the season, if he can find his groove with the Senators.

The Pittsburgh Penguins also avoided arbitration with defenseman Brian Dumoulin, as they came together on a 6-year, $24.6 million deal on Monday morning, not too far ahead of their hearing.

Dumoulin has been a steady part of the Penguins' blueline over the last couple of seasons, also a big help for their championship wins, so bringing him back was a no-brainer.  In 70 games last season, the 25-year old scored 1 goal and 15 points, ranking 120th among all defenders.

His numbers have stayed pretty steady over the last two seasons, so he's going to prove to be a reasonable injury replacement, rather than an initial pick at the draft as well.

Monday morning was a good time to get some deals done, as the Nashville Predators avoided their arbitration case for the day, re-signing forward Austin Watson to a 3-year, $3.3 million deal.

The 25-year old appeared in 77 games for Nashville in the regular season, scoring 5 goals and 17 points, good enough for 288th among all forwards, a ways back from the rest of the pool worthy forwards, but his trend line is certainly going in the right direction to be a late addition to your pool team, if needed.

Now, the Predators only have Ryan Johansen left to deal with in this off-season and they still have roughly $13.4 million left in cap space, which should be more than enough to get that deal done for the long-term.

The afternoon was just as good for deals, as the New York Islanders added a 4-year, $6.4 million deal signed with defenseman Adam Pelech.  Pelech was a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, so this was one of your regularly negotiated deals.

Last season, Pelech played in 44 games for the Islanders, scoring 3 goals and 10 points, ranking 159th among all defenders in scoring.  This is a pretty good deal for the player, who is just coming out of his entry-level contract and hasn't suited up for a whole season with the big club yet.  Obviously, things must be moving in the right direction for him and those point totals should do well to increase.