Edmonton Oilers Talk: Tyler Benson, the New Devin Shore? Maybe According to One Oilers Writer

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

Oilersnation (Brownlee)

The Mix

Reality is the best teams have the best mix of personnel – experience and the intangibles that come with it, talented young players like Bouchard bubbling up, reliable role players and depth. That’s the kind of team Holland is trying to build and Tippett wants to coach.

“Experience to me, one of the biggest things is knowledge. The knowledge of situations, recognizing things that happen during a game, during a season, during a road trip. That experience they have can really help a group, especially when your leadership group is a little younger.” – Dave Tippett on The Outsiders Podcast (8/23/2021)

Bouchard, who got into 14 games last season, will likely start in the third pairing with Kris Russell with a blueline group that is drastically different from last season.

“I think Evan Bouchard is going to be a key player for us this year, he’ll get minutes and I think he’s going to take a step forward. I said to some people, I think he could be our Jesse Puljujarvi this year where he comes in, we kind of start him down and he continues to grow in our line-up and becomes a really good NHL player.” – Tippett

BLH’s Thoughts: Still to this day, it shocks me that there are folks out there who think “the mix” of a team is irrelevant despite the overwhelming evidence shown each year in the Stanley Cup playoffs that teams who are undersized and overskilled never make it far.

As for Bouchard, he’s an old vet trapped in a 21yr old’s body. He’s mature beyond his years and you can hear it when he speaks to the media. Special players don’t come along often, but I feel like we’ve got one here in EB. If things break the right way, we’ll be watching him and Darnell Nurse playing in all-star games and international hockey tournaments for Canada for many years to come.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the additions of Keith, Ceci, and Barrie along with the experience he already has practicing with Adam Larsson Kris Russell, and Darnell Nurse, will go a long long way with Bouchard and his development.

The Athletic (Willis)

Making the Oilers: Tyler Benson, Devin Shore and the 4-year difference between a prospect and a has-been

Tyler Benson and Devin Shore are set to compete in one of the closest positional contests of Oilers training camp. At the team level, the stakes are low: a starting job on the fourth line. At the personal level, they’re anything but.
The neat thing about Benson versus Shore is the way it shows us how small the gap is between prospect and journeyman.
Even the scouting reports are almost identical.
Red Line thought Shore could develop into a third-line centre with second-line upside. ISS figured that Benson could be a middle-six winger with a reliable defensive game.
Shore, meanwhile, has played six years in the best hockey league in the world.
- He’s found his way into 326 NHL games.
Benson, and the Oilers, should be pretty happy if he can match Shore’s career arc.
This is the model that Benson, Cooper Marody and the rest of Edmonton’s AHL prospects are going into. It might result in unusually good outcomes for longtime minor-leaguers…
For a player in Benson’s position, Shore represents success.

BLH’s Thoughts: Did Willis actually refer to Devin Shore as a “has-been” in the title of that post?… Wow. That’s classy. I suppose it’s a lot easier for a blogger to say something like that when you don’t have to worry about ever meeting the guy in real life.

Shore has the leg up on Benson from a prototypical 4th liner’s perspective. He’s three inches taller and sixteen pounds heavier and he plays multiple positions. He’s got the playing experience leverage on a team that values veterans and he’s used on the PK too.

If you add Brendan Perlini and Dylan Holloway to the mix and Tyler Benson might have to rely on some voodoo magic to get into the lineup in 2021-22. The mountain to make the team looks steep and treacherous… Good luck to the local lad because if he doesn’t make it, he risks getting labeled a “has-been” by bloggers nationwide.

NHLRumors.com

Michael Russo: It doesn’t sound like a Minnesota Wild, Kirill Kaprizov contract is imminent. The sides have been talking a lot lately which is good.

John Vogl of The Athletic: Sabres GM Kevyn Adams know that they can’t have Eichel on the roster this season. He’ll need to lower his asking price a little… The Sabres have some salary cap space to work and should be looking to take on a contract with a sweetener attached.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period: Training camp is a month away and multiple sources have said that Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel still hasn’t had any surgery to repair a herniated disc… Eichel’s agents had hoped a trade would have happened before free agency opened at the end of July… Teams that continue to be linked to Eichel include the Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames… The Sabres would rather send him to the Western Conference.

Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com: After the departures of Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan, the Ottawa Senators could use veteran depth at center.

Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com: The St. Louis Blues are still looking for a trade partner for forward Vladimir Tarasenko.

Brian Compton of NHL.com: The New York Islanders could still use a defenseman to replace defenseman Nick Leddy.