Breaking news from Wednesday morning to go along with the opening of training camp as the Edmonton Oilers are adding one more surprise player to the camp roster.
Winger Mike Hoffman will be joining training camp on a PTO.
In the wake of Evander Kane likely being on LTIR for the first part of the season, more competition on wing does not hurt to help shore up the depth. There is a slight weakness and hole in the third line from a scoring perspective with the absence of Dylan Holloway and uncertainty over if Vasily Podkolzin will be able to rebound in his career trajectory.
Who is Mike Hoffman?
Hoffman is a scoring winger, plain and simple. His excellent shot has led him to be a regular 20-goal scorer at his peak with a career high 36 goals and 70 points in 2018–19.
Hoffman is not much a play or chance driver on his own and his even strength impact is often negligible. But his shot and powerplay impact could be massive.
Hoffman’s production has dipped significantly in recent years, his point and goal totals have dropped each of the last four seasons. And his totals last season with the San Jose Sharks ended with 10 goals and 23 points in 66 games.
The hope is that Hoffman can rekindle some of his old magic on a much better team with the potential of playing with much better players.
