The Edmonton Oilers signed prospect and Defensive standout Joey LaLeggia out of the University of Denver to a 2 year ELC deal.
He played 37 Games and scored 15-25-40 making him the 3rd leading scorer on his college team. In fact, LaLeggia was the 4th highest scoring player in the entire NCHC. His performance this season has been described as dominant and the more players the Oilers add like this the better.
LaLeggia is the NHCH Player of the Year, Hobey Baker Finalist, NCHC Defenseman of the year, NHCH Offensive Defenseman of the Year, and Chicken Wing Eating Champion of Dorm 3306 (OK, I made that one up). The future is bright by all accounts.
He is joining the Barons on an ATO which means his deal will not start counting down until next year. Keep that in mind if the Oilers end up signing any other College Free Agents and play them in the NHL right away in order to burn a year off the ELC as an incentive for signing.
As a BCHL player he lead the Penticton Vees in points by 10 points with 20-62-82 in just 58 games the year before he joined the University of Denver. So he does have a track record as a productive offensive player. As a comparison, Justin Schultz had just 50 points in 49 games in his final BCHL season.
Even as the Oilers have added a number of defensive prospects into their system over the last few years, they currently lack anybody in the AHL who is bubbling under the surface. All of those players have graduated to the NHL club. Gernat and Musil are fighting uphill battles and haven’t progressed to the point where you would say they are locks to make the big club. Oesterle and Simpson are perhaps better bets today but the organization can always use more defenders.
The fact that he’s small and a left handed defenseman are knocks against LaLeggia, but he has certainly earned his chance to prove himself in the pro ranks. All told, it’s a good day in Edmonton.
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