Report: Oilers announce very important signing on Tuesday.

While this may seem like a relatively minor signing on the surface, make no mistake about it this was one of the most important deals of the offseason for Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli.

On Tuesday the Oilers officially announced the signing of 25-year-old forward Iiro Pakarinen to a one year contract extension worth $725,000 although the Oilers themselves have not released the financial details of the agreement. 

While you may be wondering why the signing of a player who appeared in just 14 games last season is a big deal, you must remember that this summer will feature the National Hockey League's Expansion Draft and this now gives Edmonton a second forward to expose in that draft.

It's an extremely shrewd move by general manager Peter Chiarelli, and although it's extremely unlikely that Pakarinen is the player picked by Las Vegas, it will avoid him having to expose a more valuable forward to the draft.

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