Cup champ Andersen, Oilers agree on 1-year pact
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- Frederik Andersen signed a one-year, $2.75-million contract with the Edmonton Oilers on the first day of NHL free agency, leaving the Carolina Hurricanes after five seasons.
- The contract carries only a $1 million salary cap hit, with $1.8 million in performance bonuses tied to regular-season games played and playoff success.
- Edmonton's goaltending room will now include Andersen, Tristan Jarry (acquired from Pittsburgh after posting an .857 save percentage in 19 games), and Devon Levi (traded from Buffalo on Tuesday).
- Andersen anchored Carolina's playoff run, going 12-1 in three Eastern Conference series with eight consecutive wins before giving way to Brandon Bussi in the Stanley Cup Final.
- Andersen won the Cup in six games over Vegas but revealed after Game 6 he had been playing through a knee injury suffered earlier in the Final.
- The signing carries heavy personal context — Andersen was one of the first prominent clients of agent Claude Lemieux, who died by suicide on May 28 at age 60, and said after the clincher, "He would be so proud."
- Andersen reunites in Edmonton with former Toronto teammate Zach Hyman, as well as new Oilers head coach Mike Babcock and assistant D.J. Smith.
Why it matters: Edmonton is paying just $1 million in cap hit — with $1.8M in bonuses — for a 36-year-old Cup champion to stabilize a shaky goalie room that already includes Jarry (.857 SV%) and Levi. The structure limits Edmonton's downside, but Andersen was playing through a knee injury and mourning agent Claude Lemieux's death by suicide while winning the Cup.
