Edmonton Oilers Training Camp Talk: Of These Three D-Men, Who Do You Keep Long Term?

The Edmonton Oilers have a very interesting conundrum on their hands at the moment. One that I’m not sure they’ve had in some time, if ever. That being the right-side of their defence is emerging as an organizational strength but there’s a slight logjam that is starting to appear.

(Please forgive me, I’m writing this at 1:20am after arriving home from rec hockey… It may be a tad sporatic and rushed but I’ve got deadlines dammit!!! Many thanks.)

On the tenth of January in the year 2021, Oilers GM Ken Holland will look at his defensive depth chart and see three exquisite right-handed talents that decisions will need to be made on,

Adam Larsson – A 28yr old tough-as-nails defenceman who is turning heads in training camp so far. When the club made it to the playoffs in 2017, he was an important piece during that run. He’s very assertive physically and the team’s only pure shutdown defenceman. In addition to that, he’s the toughest and nastiest one Edmonton has on that side of the defence. I believe he’s a very good cleanup man for someone like Caleb Jones who he’s been paired with at camp to date.
Tyson Barrie – He’s the kind of player that this team has been screaming for for ages. A right-shot who can join the rush and be a threat on the powerplay. He’s got a very competitive spirit and doesn’t back down when challenged. He went scoreless in the “playoffs” last season but before that he had 12pts in 18 games. He’s only 29yrs old to boot.
Evan Bouchard – Uncle Evan is the young buck in this trio, but he might be the one with the brightest future in all aspects. Offensively, if put in the right situations, he could compete with Barrie’s career-high of 59pts in a season some day. If Barrie was the Randall Cunningham of these three, then Bouchard would have to be the Dan Marino purely based on how good of a passer he is. For what it’s worth, Larsson has to be considered more of a Reggie White-type.

Every individual has something the Oilers are going to need as this group evolves into a Stanley Cup contender.

It will definitely need a take-no-prisoners 3rd pairing defender (because that’s where his future lies if he wants to stay on the team) who can move up or down the lineup. Oilers colorman Bob Stauffer has stated on numerous occasions that Larsson would be interested in taking a haircut if it meant he could stay with the club and by all reports, he’s making a very good impression at training camp right now. The other thing he would bring, as I stated before, is he’d be a good partner/mentor for Caleb Jones as he emerges into one of the team’s better two-way defenders.

The downside to commiting to The Iron Swede is that he’s become a tad injury prone recently and the players who play his style are slowly getting bounced out of the league… On the other hand, how bad would it be if you’ve got an Evan Bouchard waiting in the wings?

What team couldn’t do with a rearguard who has the potential to put up more than 60 points in a season? That’s what Barrie would bring, right? Or at least we’re hoping. My only concern is that he could ask for a really fat contract at the end of a successful season riding Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s coattails (as a few have done before).

Would that be so unfortunate if he did though? Holland could just walk away and give that spot to…

Evan Bouchard is projected to be one of the best defencemen this organization has ever seen if you listen to some of the analytical types out there, but there’s an internal narrative going around where some of the brass need him to be a bit more “urgent” and so they have had him paired with Slater Koekkoek in camp, a dman with a bit more polish in that regard.

Look, the way I see it is that Tyson Barrie should be a one-and-done in Edmonton and they should really be making plans for Evan Bouchard to come in and graduate from extra d-man this year, to third-pairing with spot duties on special teams next year, to full-time 2nd pairing the year after.

Tyson Barrie is going to cost too much money and Bouchard can hop into the play just as much as Barrie will this year. Not only that, the former London Knight will be much cheaper for the Oilers as he signs his second contract and he could be a better player in year two of that new deal.

The fact of the matter is, if you’ve been listening to the radio pundits in Edmonton since training camp started, you probably would’ve heard at some point that Evan Bouchard is looking fantastic. He’s stronger, smarter, more mature and I think it was Mark Spector who commented that he’s this year’s Ethan Bear… Shouldn’t the team give him a real opportunity this year?

At some point this year, someone is going to get too banged up to go and that’s when Bouchard will pounce and never look back. Could you imagine if he made Barrie expendable?…

I’m absolutely drawn to some of the narratives coming out at the camp. It’s going to be a really fun season to cover the Oilers!

What do you think? Who would you keep and let go? Let us know in the comments below yesterday’s scrimmage highlights!

PS: I see Puljujarvi keeps producing… (YES!!!)