Highly sought after defenceman Justin Schultz chooses to sign with Oilers

EDMONTON – Justin Schultz is taking his talents to Edmonton.

The highly sought after defenceman ended a busy week by electing to sign a two-year, entry-level deal with the Oilers on Saturday.

They were among 26 NHL teams that expressed interest in Schultz, who took advantage of a loophole in the collective bargaining agreement to become an unrestricted free agent.

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Schultz met face-to-face with interested teams at the suburban Toronto offices of Newport Sports and Edmonton’s pitch included phone calls from Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey. Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto, Minnesota and the New York Rangers were also believed to be on his short list.

The native of West Kelowna, B.C., will turn 22 next week and is expected to play in the NHL next season. He’ll be joining an Oilers team that has selected No. 1 overall at the past three drafts, having just added Russian winger Nail Yakupov to a lineup that includes Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.

Schultz was originally a second-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2008 and spent the last three seasons at the University of Wisconsin. He elected to become a free agent rather than sign in Anaheim.

Schultz will earn a base of salary of US$925,000 the next two seasons and can collect up to $2.85 million in additional bonuses.