Oilers Extend Taylor Hall, Looking to Get Past Rebuilding

The Edmonton Oilers probably haven't had any serious sports bettors put action down on their team to contend for the Stanley Cup in quite a while, as this team has been in the rebuilding phases for quite a while now.  The team went 32-40-10 last season, which was good for being 29th overall in the NHL, something that the fans are definitely getting a bit tired of.  So what's the best way to fix this situation?  Well, for starters you have to lock in those young players to long contracts and make sure that your talent is happy moving forward, and this is exactly what they did with the newest bit of news to come out of Edmonton.

The Oilers have officially signed the 20 year old forward, Taylor Hall to a seven year contract extension that is worth $42 million this past week.  Hall said there was no hesitation on his end to sign the extension or about the length of the deal either.  He stated that he's "comfortable being here for that long", and that he also hopes that by that time that the team is a "perennial threat", as this was going to be his "main goal and mindset".

Hall has been with the Oilers since he was drafted with the first pick overall back in 2010, and is a big part of the team's front line with other another well-known top pick in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle as well.  While the Oilers don't exactly have a very high salary overall, this would officially make Hall the highest paid player on the team.  The total average salary per player for this team is currently $6 million per year.

In even better news for Oilers fans, it has been reported that the Oilers are also in talks with Eberle to potentially get him in for a long extension, and it looks like his deal could be similar money to what Hall received.  Eberle had a very strong season this past year with 34 goals and 76 total points, which was a team high in goals.  Hall finished second behind Eberle in goals with 27, and also had 26 assists in 61 games, but his season was shortened when he injured his shoulder.  These numbers were increased from his rookie season when he had 22 goals and 20 assists over 65 games, which was due to the fact that he was injured as well.

Edmonton could be a team to watch in the coming season, but they still need some additional help moving forward from the other young players.

Check the latest NHL News