The last item on the Oilers to-do list has finally been done. On Saturday morning it was announced that Kailer Yamamoto and the Edmonton Oilers had agreed to a one year deal worth 1.175 million dollars. After this season Yamamoto will remain an RFA. With how long this deal took to get done, I was beginning to expect we would see a one year deal as high as 1.8 million but kudos to the Oilers for keeping this lower. Should the team need to go through this same song and dance next season, the amount to qualify Yamamoto will be lower.
After a brilliant shortened 19/20 campaign where Yamamoto scored 26 points in 27 games, the following year saw a slight step back for the smaller forward with 21 points in 52 games. In 19/20 Yamamoto had a 25% shooting percentage and obviously that was going to go down. His 11.6% this past season is far more sustainable but the biggest knock against Yamamoto remains how little he shoots. In 19/20, Yamamoto was averaging 1.6 shots a game. In 20/21 he dipped to 1.3 shots a game on average.
The other four mainstays in the Oilers top six last season were Jesse Puljujarvi, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent Hopkins. All of these players averaged over two shots a game last season. If Yamamoto wants to be a regular top six forward he needs to be in that same range. Yammer is a tenacious forward and despite his small size he is one of the Oilers most aggressive forwards. There is plenty to like about his game but posting an extra shot a game could go a long way to helping him out.
Now that Yamamoto has a contract, it's time to look ahead to what his next contract will be. It seems likely that Yamamoto will once again find himself as a staple in the top six, most likely next to Leon Draisaitl but there is a chance he could find himself in a third line role. I've stated here a few times that if a guy like Kassian can come in and simply not be an anchor in the top six, it might be in the team's best interests to have Yamamoto feasting on lesser competition on a third line and giving the team one more real scoring line.
Depending on his usage, Yamamoto could be anything from a 30-60 point player next season. A spread like that is obviously going to come with a huge range in salary. Yamamoto could get a 4 or 5 year deal in the 3 million dollar range or find himself with a 6 or 7 year deal closer to 6 million, depending on how he plays.
It's easy to say that it would be great if Yamamoto earns a 6 million dollar deal because that would mean that he is putting up big points and to a degree that would be right. The danger is looking ahead to next season and how the Oilers are going to afford some of these players. Assuming the cap is going up 1 million next season as reported and assuming Klefbom is not on LTIR the Oilers only have 7.9 million in cap space.
Next season the Oilers will need to extend both Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto and find a legitimate starter. We could start discussing what moving Klefbom looks like or trading Kassian but regardless the Oilers are going to be in a rough spot.
For now we can table those conversations and look ahead to training camp and the 21/22 season. Every Oiler is accounted for and soon we will see them all take to the ice once more.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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