Edmonton Oilers sign Drake Caggiula, Lane Pederson to two-year contracts with $775,000 AAVs

The Edmonton Oilers made a couple of small signings over the course of the first day of free agency, bringing back winger Drake Caggiula and signing Lane Pederson on matching two-year contracts with a cap hit of $775,000.

Caggiula, 29, was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his one-year $750,000 contract that he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins in free agency in 2022. His new deal gives him a $25,000 pay raise, and is the first time he’ll make more than $750,000 a season since 2020.

Caggiula only got into four games with the Penguins in 2022-23, going pointless in those games. He did play 65 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL, where he had 22 goals, 31 assists, and 53 points, the most points he’s had in any season in any league since 2009-10 with the Ajax/Pickering Raiders U16 AAA team in the U16 ETAHL, where he had 95 points in 66 games.

Pederson, 25, was a Group 6 unrestricted free agent after concluding his two-year contract with a $750,000 cap hit that he originally signed with the San Jose Sharks in free agency in 2021. His new deal gives him a $25,000 pay raise, and will be the highest cap hit of his career.

Pederson got into 27 games with the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets this season, scoring with three goals, three assists, and six points between the two teams. He also played 44 games in the AHL with the San Jose Barricuda, Chicago Wolves, and Abbotsford Canucks, with 26 goals, 16 assists, and 42 points in those games.

Pederson was involved in two trades in the past year, first going from the Sharks to the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the Brent Burns trade, and then moving to Vancouver along with Ethan Bear. He ended up on the Blue Jackets a few months later after he was claimed on waivers by them.