Tyler Benson on Where He Wants to Play Next Season: “I’m not too worried about who it’s with…”

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

From the Edmonton Sun (Rob Tychkowski)

Whether its Edmonton Oilers or Seattle Kraken, Benson just wants to play

A lot of Tyler Benson fans out there are more upset than he is that the Edmonton Oilers are leaving him unprotected in Wednesday’s NHL expansion draft… Mostly because Benson isn’t upset at all.
- “(Not being protected) is something I didn’t really know was going to happen,” said Benson. “In talking with my agent, I knew everything was kind of up in the air. Now, seeing the list, I’m still not too sure what’s going to happen. I’m just looking forward to whatever opportunity comes to me. I wouldn’t say I’m nervous, I’m just more curious to see what’s going to happen in the next few days.”
- “That’s all I’m looking forward to. I’m not too worried about who it’s with, I just want to play for an NHL team this coming season.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I know Benson was following a conversation I was having with a follower who’s based in Bakersfield regarding the prospect. As a young professional athlete, it must be hard not to become emotionally attached to the team that drafted you and have been playing for since you left junior. So I have to hand it to Benson and how he’s seeing things right now. He’s seeing the business side of the sport clearly and not allowing himself to get emotional unlike an old teammate of his who’s now playing for Chicago.

I’ve always said that until Benson improves his skating, he won’t get his shot in Edmonton and his window might’ve slammed shut when the season ended this year and he wasn’t called up. I say that because the Oilers needed cheap top-six LWs for the past two seasons and now they’ve got the skrilla to go out and sign them. So that places Benson in competition with all the other available bottom-six free agents and available players who’ll make around $1M/yr or less. What would make him a better option than Josh Leivo, Sam Gagner, Vinnie Hinostroza, Sean Kuraly, or Bobby Ryan?

From The Cult of Hockey (David Staples)

Good-bye to Adam Larsson? Say it ain’t so

There’s been rumblings all week from Bob Stauffer on Oilers New that a new contract between Larsson, 28, and the Oilers is no sure thing. These rumblings only grew louder over the weekend with first the Cult of Hockey’s Kurt Leavins reporting the Oilers may now be looking at signing Tyson Barrie and not Larsson.
Losing Adam Larsson would represent a major setback for the Oilers. For the last five seasons, 2016-17 to 2020-21, Larsson has posted three of the five best seasons we’ve seen from an Oilers d-man when it comes to him creating Grade A chances for compared to his mistakes on chances against, Grade A chances plus-minus at even strength.
If the right side of the Oil’s defence is Tyson Barrie and Evan Bouchard, Ethan Bear, that group will be strong moving the puck, but who will shut down the top attackers on opposing teams?
Dmitry Samorukov, a lefty who plays the right side, was a strong shut-down d-man on CSKA in Moscow this year. He’s big, nasty and he can skate. He may well be an option as a solid shut-down d-man in coming years, but I can’t see him replacing Larsson either.
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug had this to add about Larsson on Twitter:
- “On Adam Larsson, the simple fact is, the player hasn’t decided what he wants to do yet, and it could go either way. He is considering a few offers they feel are fair from the Oilers on different lengths, but he is taking his time, wanting to make a good decision for his future”
- “Taking this much time leads to the perception that he’s likely leaving, but am told that at this point the Oilers are still a very strong option for him. My sense is the team is willing to be patient to a point, while he makes this decision.”
- “Larsson is methodical, and has been working on his own timeline through this process, not wanting to rush an important decision. The Oilers have the offers there for him, he’s in the process of deciding if he wants to stay, or go see what’s out there. Could still go either way.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Yesterday, Bob Stauffer was telling old Oilers stories about players who’d gone through similar experiences (Ryan Smyth and Michael Nylander) and the feeling I got was that there was a deal to be signed at one point and the player pulled out or else why tell those stories about those players from Edmonton’s history? Was Stauffer simply trying to tell us that we shouldn’t get our hopes up until the contract is signed? C’mon… That’s way too simple to pull out the stories of the rough negotiations that Smyth and Nylander had with the Oilers…

From The Fourth Period

SPOTLIGHT ON SEATTLE AS EXPANSION DRAFT LOOMS

We believe the Kraken will be signing and selecting goaltender Chris Driedger from the Florida Panthers, presumably to be the club’s No.1 goalie. They want a veteran backup and someone like Vancouver’s Branden Holtby or Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick could be an option, but with Minnesota exposing Kaapo Kahkonen, unless a deal is made with the Wild to keep the Kraken from selecting him, I’m not sure Francis would pass on the 24-year-old. Washington’s Vitek Vanecek could also be a possibility.
There are teams interested in Tarasenko that couldn’t get a deal done with St. Louis. According to sources, those clubs have already spoken with the Kraken about picking Tarasenko and flipping him to their club, with Seattle retaining a portion of his contract, for a collage of assets. Do the Panthers, Islanders, Flyers and Bruins get in on that action? It sounds like a possibility
The Flyers and Kraken have discussed Voracek…
In the last 36 hours, multiple sources told me the Blue Jackets also gauging the market on Patrik Laine.
- Several teams had interest in Laine before he was dealt to Columbus. The Los Angeles Kings, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers expressed interest in the past and could circle back again this month.
Pending restricted free agent Sam Reinhart is not expected to be with the Sabres much longer. The Sabres had talks with a few teams about Reinhart leading up to Saturday’s freeze and depending on whom you talk to, there’s uncertainly over how close a move actually was. But the writing is on the wall and Reinhart’s long-term future in the NHL doesn’t have the Sabres in it.

BLH’s Thoughts: Are the Flyers going to flip Voracek plus some sweeteners to Seattle for Tarasenko?

Could Columbus solve their top-six center problems by trading Patrik Laine to the Sabres for Sam Reinhart and then sign Phillip Danault from Montreal? Not the most dynamic duo of pivots but they get the job done.

What I’m most afraid of this off-season is that the rest of the teams in the Pacific Division make some massive moves and the gap on Edmonton closes significantly. For example, I’d dislike nothing more than the LA Kings to trade for Jack Eichel and Seth Jones while the Oilers sign Zach Hyman and trade Zack Kassian.