Ben Scrivens, Oilers agree to two-year, $4.6 million extension

To be honest, the biggest surprised about Ben Scrivens' new contract with the Edmonton Oilers is that it took this long to get done. You'd have thought they'd have put pen to paper the day after Scrivens posted an NHL-record 59-save shutout to help his club beat the San Jose Sharks. Or by the next day, at the very least.

Either way, you knew it was coming, especially with Ilya Bryzgalov rumoured to be on the block, and on Monday the Oilers made it official, inking Scrivens to a two-year deal worth $2.3 million per year.

Simply put, this deal looks good for Edmonton (and not just because Devan Dubnyk, the goaltender they moved out to make room for Ben Scrivens, has been put on waivers by the Nashville Predators).

Scrivens has had a fine showing in his brief turn as the Oilers' starter, and you can understand why there would already be a temptation to lock him up for quite awhile. It's been some time since an Edmonton goalie has shown this much promise.

But Scrivens is still very young, and has yet to put together much of a sample size. He's only played 58 NHL games, posting a strong save percentage of .921, and he's never been a true number one. So while he needs a new contract, the smart thing to do here is to give him a show-me contract, and a chance to prove, over a full season, that he can handle the difficult job of goaltending the Oilers to wins.

If he does, he deserves all the money in the world. That's no easy task. But for right now, the Oilers have given themselves two years to assess whether they have what they think they have in Ben Scrivens.