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Oilers Extend Caleb Jones |
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Wednesday afternoon the Edmonton Oilers announced they had extended Caleb Jones to a two year deal worth 850,000 per season.
After playing 14 games in the AHL this season, posting 3-8-11 through those games, the 22 year old left shooting defenseman received a call-up. It is likely we won't see Jones back in the AHL again.
Through 23 games this season with the Oilers, Caleb Jones has recorded 3 assists. Offensively, the numbers are not there but he is also only averaging about 13 minutes a game, alongside the equally offensively challenged Kris Russell.
Caleb Jones has played 157 minutes at even strength with Kris Russell and 137 minutes without him. Jones has a CF% of 49% when he plays away from Russell which drops to 45% when playing with him. This could be because Jones is playing is off-side alongside Russell but that argument dissipates when you look at Jones with Klefbom.
Jones has played 108 minutes at 5 on 5 with Klefbom this season where he also played on his off-side. Klefbom and Jones together posted CF% of 50.26%. Away from Jones, Klefbom posted a 45.72 CF%.
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This deal likely signals that this will be Kris Russell's last season with the Edmonton Oilers. Jones is a far better puck mover and more aggressive player than Russell, something that Tippett clearly values. Jones also comes at a fraction of the cost. Adding top six talent needs to be a priority for this team and in order to do that, Holland needs to clear some cap space.
Jones is a young player and is still prone to some rookie mistakes but his style of game; his ability to make the simple play under pressure makes him a valuable player to the organization moving forward. I would be very curious to see him return to playing on the left side with Matt Benning once the latter has been cleared to play.
All in all this is a solid move by Holland which keeps a young, talented player in the Oilers organization on a great deal.
Thanks for reading!
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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