Are You Happy With Alex Formenton So Far in Edmonton?

The Edmonton Oilers took a bit of a gamble when they signed Alex Formenton to a one-year, $850,000 contract this offseason. Now, after the first two games of the regular season, it’s fair to start asking a simple question: Are you happy with what you’ve seen from Formenton so far?

Formenton made his Oilers debut on opening night against the Vancouver Canucks and was used on the third line alongside Owen Michaels and Mathieu Joseph. He finished the game with 16:15 of ice time and picked up an assist on Evan Bouchard’s second goal of the night.

The assist was a nice early sign for Formenton. He helped create the play that eventually ended with “Evan Bouchard” (https://www.nhl.com/player/evan-bouchard-8479323) scoring, and his speed gives Edmonton another dimension in the bottom six. Formenton has always been known as a player who can get up and down the ice quickly, and that’s something the Oilers could use.

There is also some offensive upside here. Before returning to the NHL, Formenton spent the previous three seasons with HC Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland, where he scored 33 goals and 52 points in 88 games. The Oilers clearly believe there is more offense in his game than what we have seen so far in his NHL career.

Formenton also scored during Edmonton’s preseason win over Winnipeg, showing some of the speed that made him a second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators back in 2017. He finished his previous NHL run with 23 goals and 40 points in 110 games, so this isn’t a player Edmonton should necessarily expect to become a top-line scorer.

The interesting part will be seeing how his role develops. Edmonton has plenty of talent at the top of its lineup with “Connor McDavid” (https://www.nhl.com/player/connor-mcdavid-8478402) and “Leon Draisaitl” (https://www.nhl.com/player/leon-draisaitl-8477934), but depth scoring and secondary offense have been important issues for the team in recent seasons. If Formenton can consistently create chances and use his speed against opposing depth players, he could become a useful piece.

It’s obviously far too early to make a final judgment. One regular-season game isn’t enough to determine whether an $850,000 signing has worked out, especially for a player returning to the NHL after several years away. But getting an assist in his first game and seeing him receive more than 16 minutes of ice time is certainly a reasonable start.

So, Oilers fans, what do you think? Are you happy with Alex Formenton so far in Edmonton? Is he showing enough to stick in the lineup, or do you want to see more before buying into the signing?

The Oilers are only getting started, and Formenton is one of the more intriguing players to watch as Edmonton figures out exactly what its forward depth will look like this season.