One of the Edmonton Oilers’ free-agent signings out of the SHL in Sweden, David Tomasek, is reportedly leaving the team.
Swedish newspaper Värmlands Folkblad reported last night that Tomasek and the Oilers will be mutually terminating his NHL contract and the forward will be returning to Färjestad BK (FBK) in the SHL.
David Tomasek’s time with the Oilers
Tomasek was signed as a European free agent in April after two fantastic seasons in the SHL that saw him amass 49 goals and 102 points over 99 games. Tomasek actually played two seasons in the OHL for the Bellville Bulls from 2013-2015 but wasn’t drafted.
The Oilers took a chance by signing the 29-year-old right-shot centre, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like that has worked out.
It’s a bit unfortunate as Tomasek looked like he could be a very effective player at the start of the season. He started on the Oilers’ top power play unit and almost buried a few chances, too. However, he only made it into 22 games for the Oilers and had just three goals and five points and averaged just 10:46 TOI per game.
Caught in a numbers game
Perhaps the Oilers didn’t give Tomasek enough of a chance with both Trent Frederic and Mattias Janmark playing similar roles in the lineup. At the end of the day though, the Oilers are rolling right now and Tomasek was the odd man out, and if he wanted to play big minutes it didn’t seem likely with the Oilers this season.
The contract termination saves the Oilers $1.2M on the salary cap and a valuable roster spot. That spot will likely be filled by Issac Howard, who has absolutely torched the AHL since being sent down to Bakersfield with 19 points in 14 games.
