The two sides reached an agreement on a two-year contract paying him an AAV of $3.1 million, the club said Wednesday night. Yamamoto was scheduled for an arbitration hearing on Sunday. According to PuckPedia, Yamamoto will earn a $2.7 million salary and a $300,000 signing bonus in the first year of the deal, with a $3.2 million salary in the second year. At expiration, he will be an RFA with a $3.2 million offer and two years of unrestricted free agency. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below Drafted by the Oilers 22nd overall in the 2017 draft, Yamamoto is coming off his most productive NHL season in career highs in goals (20), assists (21) and points (41). While he had a slow start to the year scoring just 16 points in the first 41 games of the year, things turned around for him in the second half of the season. Across the stretch, he scored 25 points in the final 40 games of the season and had another two goals and seven points in 14 playoff games. He burst onto the scene with the Oilers midway through the 2019-20 season coming in and scored 11 goals and 26 points in the second half of the year, but struggled in his second season. In 2020-21, he scored just eight goals and 21 points in 52 games. As a whole, his game still looks pretty raw. A great coach who puts tons of pressure on opposing defensemen and has great success rates stripping pucks, his defensive game still leaves a lot to be desired. He is, after all, still only 23 years old, so there is plenty of room for improvement in his game. His underlying numbers are about average. At 5×5 with him on the ice, the Oilers control 50.04 percent of shot attempts, 48.65 percent of goals scored and 48.76 percent of expected goal share. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below With the official signing of Yamamoto, the Oilers are in a difficult position to meet the cap for next season. Ryan McLeod, an RFA, still needs a new deal and the team is already a hair over $6 million over the salary cap. McLeod’s deal will fall below $2 million, and even with Mike Smith and Oscar Klefbom’s combined $6.367 million earmarked for LTIR, the Oilers will still be over the salary cap. The club also needs to sign another RFA to Tyler Benson. Another move is likely to come for the Oilers, and the most reasonable players that could be dealt are Warren Foegele ($2.75 million cap hit) and Tyson Barrie ($4.5 million). Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. You can follow him on Twitter at @zjlaingor contact by email at [email protected] NATION VACATION is presented by PointsBet Canada. Come hang out with us on our 1st Summer Vacation in Toronto! For only $1399 + tax, you’ll have everything included in the graphics and memories to last a lifetime. Get your tickets here.
