Edmonton Oilers Talk: “The Oilers have some serious question marks on defence.” – Daniel Nugent-Bowman

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!

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Edmonton Sun (Rob Tychkowski)

Edmonton Oilers star players pushed hard to get Barrie back

There are plenty armchair general managers on social media who crunched the numbers and didn’t really see any value in re-signing Tyson Barrie, but the perspective from inside the dressing room was much, much different.
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse, the guys who know better than anyone else what the Edmonton Oilers need and what Barrie brings, pushed hard to get him back.
- “They were all reaching out and asking if I was staying,” said Barrie
- “We like Edmonton. It’s a good fit. It’s a joy to come to the rink. It’s a good culture.”
He was the first Oilers player to lead NHL defencemen in scoring since Paul Coffey and fit in seamlessly on the best power play in the league.
He adds defenceman Cody Ceci, a former teammate in Toronto who signed a four-year deal for $3.5 million a year, is going to be a big addition to that crew.
- “He’s good in the room and he’s a great player. He’s a guy you put out in important situations to shut the other team down. He’s big, he’s physical, he’s a great penalty killer. He’s going to be great and the boys are going to love him.”

BLH’s Thoughts: The group inside that locker room is finally producing a culture of winning and a “family” is beginning to develop. How long have we been waiting for that? Players that don’t want to be there (for whatever reason) are being moved along and players who want to be there are being brought in. It’s a great thing!

Does anybody else find it a little bit funny that the Oilers are bringing in these guys who couldn’t wait to get out of Toronto? It’s not happening the other way at all, is it?Watch Hyman and Ceci have outstanding seasons alongside another former teammate from T.O., Tyson Barrie.

I’ve heard that Connor McDavid has been quite involved in the team building process this summer. Ken Holland has been bouncing a lot of ideas off of him. Are we seeing the next Steve Yzerman being developed as we speak?

The Athletic (Daniel Nugent-Bowman)

Ethan Bear out, Cody Ceci in, Tyson Barrie stays: Oilers defensive shakeup continues, but are they improving?

Losing Adam Larsson to the Seattle Kraken has had a massive impact on the Oilers’ defence, completely altering the blueprint for construction, especially on the right side.
Though Barrie had a tremendously productive offensive season from the back end, leading all NHL defencemen in scoring, he was aided by piling up secondary assists and quarterbacking the league’s best power play. Oilers management wasn’t seriously contemplating his return.

BLH’s Thoughts: I think you really have to have it in for a guy when you start digging into how many secondary assists he had in a year where he lead the league in scoring for his position… Oscar Klefbom ran a very good powerplay too but he never put up the kind of production Barrie did last year. Why shit all over a guy’s elite skillset like this? Since when did it become a bad thing to help your team score and be a constant threat on the ice? The answer is, it’s never been a bad thing but some people have to find something to latch onto in order to have their feelings justified…

Bear had fallen down the depth chart, mostly on the third pair, and saw his ice time slashed by four minutes per game. Part of the reason for that was he lost his spot next to Darnell Nurse.

BLH’s Thoughts: Why did he lose his spot? Was it because he came to camp unprepared? One would think that it would be very difficult to lose their spot on the top pairing after having such a good season with Darnell Nurse, no?

Nurse’s underlying numbers were worse without Bear by his side, and Bear still managed a 51.3 percent expected-goals rate when paired with depth blueliners Kris Russell or Caleb Jones.

BLH’s Thoughts: Do you know what Bear’s Corsi, Fenwick, Shots For, and Goals For percentages were without Nurse? Worse. So the tangible numbers instead of the “expected” ones cratered when Bear was without Edmonton’s no.1 defenseman, so let’s not try to create some narrative that doesn’t exist.

The truth is, they were better together than apart according to Natural Stat Trick. So why not just say that instead of trying to paint some other picture?

What made the Oilers feel they needed to move on from Bear is unclear. He has mostly shown he can handle tough assignments in his young career and is on a cheap, team-controlled contract.

BLH’s Thoughts: There’s a little bit of speculation as to why Bear was moved here. But as for the hockey reasons:

The Oilers don’t need a defenseman in their top-four who “mostly” shows that he can handle tough assignments, no matter how cheap or team-controlled. They need one that can handle ALL of the tough assignments.

There were also concerns about his consistency, his skating, his conditioning, his off-ice training habits, and the leadership core of the team made it known that they wanted Tyson Barrie to return.

There was always going to be a decision that had to be made between Evan Bouchard and Bear.

When Adam Larsson left, that was the moment the clock started ticking on Bear’s future as an Edmonton Oiler because Tyson Barrie was always plan B if Larsson signed elsewhere and unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you ask) for Ethan, that meant Holland would need to find a replacement for the Swede and he wasn’t it.

He (Ceci) played most of his minutes, 38 percent, against depth competition in 2020-21. He managed a 51.9 Corsi for percentage against that quality of opposition. Against middle-type opponents, it was 44.8, and against top competition, it was 47.4. He started 52.3 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, too.
A reliable industry source said the team planned to have Nurse and Bear reunited on the top pair next season — until Larsson left Edmonton.
Before Wednesday moves — and certainly after them — the Oilers have some serious question marks on defence. Nurse, who could sign a contract extension as early as Wednesday, is the only blueliner assured of returning who inspires unequivocal confidence.

BLH’s Thoughts: DNB’s tone has certainly changed since he had that run-in with Ken Holland during the media avail after Duncan Keith was acquired… I’m curious to see how this plays out.

But back to the hockey for a second, the Oilers have lost TWO top-4 defenders for nothing in the last two years in Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson. I think it’s extremely fair to say that Ken Holland has done a fantastic job of navigating those waters considering what he’s had to work with. He’s added THREE top-four defenders in not even one month and there are fans out there who want him fired… Unbelievable the amount of entitlement and straight up ignorance there is amongst this fanbase. It’s baffling, it really is.

WARNING *Possible Regretful Rant Ahead. No Disrespect Intended* WARNING

Now, there will be some folks on Twitter who will wave around WAR charts that show Keith, Barrie, and Ceci as bottom pairing defenders and to that I say f*ck your metrics. Those algorithms are making some people believe that Ethan Bear was somehow better than Jeff Petry.

I mean, you really have to have no confidence in your ability to judge a hockey player when you start parroting that rhetoric publicly.

Bear’s a 3rd pairing defender! He was one on Edmonton last year and he’s going to be one on Carolina next season but you won’t hear a god damned peep out of “those fans” in 2021-22 about how he’s being deployed by Rod Brind’Amour because they’ll be too busy building up their case to fire Ken Holland because their charts validate their hurt feelings.

My advice, NEVER. FALL. IN. LOVE. WITH. A. PLAYER. ON. YOUR. FAVORITE. TEAM.

Oilersnation (Robin Brownlee)

The Early Bird

The acquisition of Hyman fills a need in the top six. Namely, Hyman is a player who looks capable of being a complement to Connor McDavid on the left side or as a second-line LW. He goes to the net. He bangs some. He scores some. Pundits who have had eyes on Hyman talk about a player whose value exceeds what you get just looking at the boxcars.
Given how prolific Barrie was last season with 8-40-48 in 56 games, the term and the money is a home run for Holland.
The main concern by many is keeping Barrie will stunt the progress of 21-year-old Evan Bouchard. That used to be called depth, but I understand the sentiment and the hopes fans have for Bouchard.

BLH’s Thoughts: With regards to Barrie stunting the progress of Evan Bouchard, I think we should take it easy on that front a bit. Bouch isn’t even 22 years old yet and he’s being crowned king of the PP already. Do you think there’s a chance that Holland and Tippett might want this guy to work on his overall game before being jettisoned to the club’s top PP?

My feeling is that the Oilers are going to want at least two of the RHD contributing to the PK and I don’t see Tyson Barrie being one of them. So that means Bouchard will get that task and it’ll be a role he embraces and excels at. I have full confidence in him because he’s a genius on the ice, his vision is elite, he’s got a large frame, and throughout his playing career from junior to minor pro, he’s been his club’s no.1 dman at some point and those guys play on the penalty kill.

NHLRumors.com

Bob McKenzie: Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is a free agent and would like to play next season. He is still waiting for medical clearance so he won’t be signing anywhere right away.

Michael Russo: “AS of right this moment (and things change all the time), but I’m hearing the #mnwild are backing out of Jack Eichel trade talks with the #sabres. Asset price/cost too much for Minnesota to stomach/make work”

Darren Dreger: “It’s believed the Oilers offered Toronto two draft picks, including one in the first 5 rounds as compensation for a potential sign and trade. However, the Maple Leafs obviously declined.”

John Vogl: “The Sabres certainly have the cap space and need to be a middleman and help the Penguins fit Fleury. They could eat part of Fleury’s salary while picking up Tristan Jarry or Casey DeSmith as a stopgap in goal. Reminder: The Sabres have zero goalies.”