Insider Reveals Two Teams Oilers Beat Out for Alex Formenton

The Edmonton Oilers’ signing of Alex Formenton has drawn, and continues to draw, plenty of scrutiny around the hockey world and from their own fanbase.

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It’s a move that has been questioned from the moment it was made, however, we now know that they weren’t alone in their bid to sign Formenton.

According to TSN insider Darren Dreger, the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights were also quite interested, though Edmonton came out on top thanks to Formenton’s good relationships with Evan Bouchard and D.J. Smith.

Dreger said:

“There were other teams that wanted to sign Alex Formenton: Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights, I was told, had considerable interest in Formenton, and Edmonton. So, Formenton chose Edmonton mostly because of his history with Evan Bouchard. They are really good buddies, and more obviously, the time he spent with D.J. Smith when D.J. was in Ottawa,”

The 27-year-old Formenton signed a one-year, $850,000 contract to join the Oilers in early September. He last played in the NHL in 2021-22 with the Ottawa Senators, when he tallied 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists).

A large number of fans gathered outside Rogers Place before Edmonton’s preseason home opener on Saturday to protest the signing, which goes to show that this won’t be a topic that gets forgotten anytime soon.

Formenton is doing his best to block out all of the noise and focus on making the Oilers’ roster out of camp.

“Yeah, to be honest, I’ve been laser-focused on trying to make this team and get better every day, and, you know, whatever role that I have on this team, trying to perfect that. So I’ve had laser focus on getting better each day,”

While that will be easier said than done, Formenton made a nice first impression by scoring a goal against Winnipeg in his Edmonton debut, and he’ll hope to build on that throughout the rest of the preseason.

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