Oilers sign Kris Russell to four-year, $16M deal

The Edmonton Oilers and defenceman Kris Russell agreed on a four-year, $16 million deal Friday.

According to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, Russell will make $5 million in the first year of the deal, $4.5 million in the second year, $4 million in the third year and $2.5 million in the final year. The deal includes a $2 million signing bonus in Year 1 and $1 million in Year 4.

Rishaug also reported the defenceman has a modified no-trade clause in the last two years of the deal.

The Caroline, Alberta native played 68 games for the Oilers last season. Russell ranked first, second and first in blocked shots in the last three NHL seasons.

The Oilers traded forward Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders for forward Ryan Strome Thursday. The move opened up $3.5 million in cap space.

The Oilers have five unrestricted free agents come July 1: defencemen Eric Gryba and Andrew Ference, and forwards Matt Hendricks, Tyler Pitlick and David Desharnais.