The Edmonton Oilers were very busy at the start of the free agency period Wednesday, signing forward Zach Hyman to a seven-year, $38.5 million contract.
Edmonton also re-signed defenseman Tyson Barrie to a three-year, $13.5 million contract extension, inked defenseman Cody Ceci to a 4-year, $13 million deal, and bought out the final two years of forward James Neal's contract, which carried a $5.75 million cap hit.
The long-anticipated move of signing Hyman comes after the Connor McDavid-led Oilers lacked secondary scoring as they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Winnipeg Jets. Hyman has topped 20 goals in two of his six NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had 15 goals and 33 points in 43 games last season.
The 29-year-old winger, who just completed a four-year, $9 million deal, can play up and down the lineup, doesn't take a shift off, can kill penalties and adds some scoring touch. After a disappointing playoff performance last season, Toronto knew it had to get tougher, so losing a player like Hyman didn't seem like a good idea. Cap constraints, however, made the offseason difficult.
Barrie returns for a second season in Edmonton after he led all NHL defensemen with 48 points last season -- netting eight goals and 40 assists. It was the fifth time in his 10-year career that he topped 40 points.
After a rough 2019-20 season in Toronto, where his production dropped and he became a target of fan angst, 29-year-old Barrie took a discount to get his game back on track with Edmonton, going from $5.5 million to $3.75 million.
Barrie spent the first eight years of his career with the Avalanche before he was traded in 2019 -- along with Alexander Kerfoot -- to Toronto for Nazem Kadri and Calle Rosen.
In another move, the Oilers traded defenseman Ethan Bear to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Warren Foegele.
Foegle, a 25-year-old winger, scored 10 goals and 10 assists in 53 games with the Hurricanes last season. In 200 career NHL games, he has 35 goals and 33 assists.
The 24-year-old Bear brings a right-shot defenseman to the Hurricanes, who won the Central Division and reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third straight season. Bear had two goals and six assists in 43 games last year and has played in 132 career NHL games, all with the Oilers.
Carolina on Wednesday also agreed to deals with returning alternate captain Jordan Martinook, defenseman Tony DeAngelo and forward Josh Leivo.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.