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Oilers sign Petrell to one-year extension

Lennart Petrell

Lennart Petrell might not be the UFA winger Oilers fans were hoping Steve Tambellini would retain this offseason. Regardless, he’s the first.

Today, the Oilers announced they’ve agreed to terms with the 28-year-old Finnish winger on a one-year extension. Petrell played in 60 games last season (4G-5A-9PTS) -- his first in the NHL -- this after spending eight years with HIFK in the SM-liiga (Finland’s top league.)

Financial terms of the deal were not released, but it’s unlikely Petrell’s going to earn much more than the $900,000 he made last season -- though only $680,000 of that went against Edmonton’s cap. The rest was in performance bonuses.

As mentioned above, the Petrell signing overshadows a bigger, looming issue with another key Oilers UFA -- Ryan Smyth.

The 36-year-old will become unrestricted on July 1 and has made no bones about wanting to keep playing in Edmonton until the end of his career. The hangup, it seems, is on the dollar amount (Smyth made $6.25 million annually on his last deal) and length of term.