Defenceman Jason Strudwick, left, celebrates with teammate Brendan Shanahan, right, after scoring the game winning goal in overtime NHL hockey action at Pittsburgh Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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The Edmonton Oilers have signed unrestricted free agent defenceman Jason Strudwick to a one-year contract.

“Jason is a veteran NHL defencemen who will add depth and a physical presence on our blueline,” stated Kevin Prendergast, the Oilers’ Vice-President of Hockey Operations. “A proven leader, he is excited to be returning to his hometown to play and we are looking forward to having him as part of our defensive corps.”

The 6’4”, 225 pound defencemen will be entering his 12th NHL season this coming fall and the Oilers will be his fifth team. Strudwick, who will turn 33 on July 17th, has played 488 career NHL games since turning pro with the New York Islanders in 1995-96. He has scored 11-27-38 and registered 678 career penalty minutes during his career that has seen him play with the Islanders, Vancouver, Chicago and the New York Rangers.

Drafted by the Islanders in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, Strudwick played 52 games with the New York Rangers in 2007-08. Averaging 12:56 minutes of ice time per game, he scored 1-1-2 with 40 penalty minutes and was even in the plus/minus rankings. He was scoreless in two post-season appearances.

Strudwick turned pro after a successful junior career that saw him win back-to-back Memorial Cup championships with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League in 1993-94 and 1994-95.

Jason Strudwick's Career Regular Season Stats Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S% 1991-1992 Edm. Legion  AMHL   35 3 8 11   67           1992-1993 Edm. Pats  AMHL   33 8 20 28   135           1993-1994 Kamloops  WHL   61 6 8 14   118           1993-1994 Kamloops  M-Cup   4 0 0 0   4           1994-1995 Kamloops  WHL   72 3 11 14   183           1994-1995 Kamloops  M-Cup   4 0 1 1   8           1995-1996 Islanders   1 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0.0 1995-1996 Worcester  AHL   60 2 7 9   119           1996-1997 Kentucky  AHL   80 1 9 10   198           1997-1998 Islanders   17 0 1 1 1 36 0 0 0 3 0.0 1997-1998 Canucks   11 0 1 1 -3 29 0 0 0 5 0.0 1997-1998 Kentucky  AHL   39 3 1 4 -12 87 0 0 2 27 11.1 1997-1998 Syracuse  AHL                         1998-1999 Canucks   65 0 3 3 -19 114 0 0 0 25 0.0 1999-2000 Canucks   63 1 3 4 -13 64 0 0 0 18 5.6 2000-2001 Canucks   60 1 4 5 16 64 0 0 1 21 4.8 2001-2002 Canucks   44 2 4 6 4 96 0 0 0 13 15.4 2002-2003 Blackhawks   48 2 3 5 -4 87 0 0 0 19 10.5 2003-2004 Blackhawks   54 1 3 4 -16 73 0 0 0 32 3.1 2004-2005 Ferencvaros  Hungary   6 1 2 3   8           2005-2006 Rangers   65 3 4 7 -10 66 0 0 0 31 9.7 2006-2007 Rangers   8 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0.0 2006-2007 Lugano  Swiss   34 2 3 5   28           2007-2008 Rangers   52 1 1 2 0 40 0 0 1 21 4.8 NHL Totals:   488 11 27 38 -44 678 0 0 2 191 5.8

Jason Strudwick's Career Playoff Stats Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S% 1993-1994 Kamloops  WHL   19 0 4 4   24           1994-1995 Kamloops  WHL   21 1 1 2   39           1995-1996 Worcester  AHL   4 0 1 1   0           1996-1997 Kentucky  AHL   4 0 0 0   0           1997-1998 Syracuse  AHL   3 0 0 0   6 0 0 0     2000-2001 Canucks   2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 2005-2006 Rangers   3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 2006-2007 Lugano  Swiss   6 0 0 0   4           2007-2008 Rangers   2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 NHL Totals:   7 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 2 0.0