The Forgotten Winger

The Oilers bottom six has been an area of concern among fans and bloggers. Most think there are some decent pieces there in Boyd Gordon, Ryan Smyth and Ryan Jones, but most agree that more is needed. Most Oilers fans are crying for a winger that brings “toughness” to the table along with the ability to play a normal shift.

That kind of player wasn’t signed this off-season, but that kind of player could be available to the Oilers from within. People might not want to hear the name, but Ben Eager is entering a contract year and has the ability to fill the role. He’s an NHL veteran, decently sized and plays a physical style.

Eager signed with the Oilers during the summer of 2011, inking a three-year pact with the team. He suffered an injury right out of the gate, a concussion at the Joey Moss Cup, that hindered him throughout the 2011-12 season. Eager put up respectable offensive numbers, but wasn’t that physical guy that the Oilers thought they were getting.

2012-13 was even worse, as Eager failed to stick with the team and went unclaimed on waivers, resulting in a stint in the AHL with the OKC Barons. Eager played well for the Barons, and won a little praise from coach Todd Nelson. He played a defined role and did it well at the AHL level.

Eager enters his contract year with his NHL career on the line. This is essentially it for Ben. If he doesn’t make the Oilers out of training camp he could be saying good bye to the NHL for good. The good news for Ben is the Oilers are still lacking the forward he was brought in to be, and that means a legit opportunity is there for him.

Eager is a decently sized guy coming in at 6′ 2” and 236 lbs. He’s played a physical style his entire career, and knows how to play that way at the NHL level. He’s a guy that can stand up for teammates too when the time comes, and the norm throughout his career has been that he can handle a regular shift.

Offensively, he isn’t a black hole either. He’s usually good for 5-10 goals, and that is exactly the area of production he was at with the Oilers. That might have been viewed as a failure by the fans before because of such high expectations, but the reality is that those are fine numbers from a fourth line player.

New GM Craig MacTavish and new coach Dallas Eakins both know that role players are needed. MacT was famous for getting the most out of these guys, and Eager, to me at least, seems like a player that MacT would have loved coaching in his day. Eakins strikes me as similar to MacT and could view Eager as a decent option for his bottom six.

With a new regime in place, it seems logical that Eager will finally have a defined role in Edmonton as a grinder, like he did in OKC this past season where he seemed to find his game again.

Ben got back to playing that physical and gritty style in OKC late last season, and there is every reason to believe he will bring that kind of game to camp this September with everything on the line.

Will that game translate back to the NHL? I’m not sure, but it is worth a look.

Eager isn’t a sexy name and won’t be an impact player for Edmonton. What he could be however, is a very serviceable fourth line player that can bring that physical element to the lineup that the Oilers so badly need. He’s good enough to chip in offensively from time to time as well, and he wouldn’t be a huge liability in a fourth line role.

If Ben Eager’s time in the AHL helped him realize what he needs to do to be successful again at the NHL level like it appears to have, then Eager could be the surprise of the season for the Oilers. There is a spot for the taking in that bottom six, and Ben Eager has the tools to be a great fit for it.

Can Eager finally put it together in an Oilers jersey and provide that gritty, capable presence the team so badly needs on the 4th line? I think he can, and I think Eager finally will prove his worth this coming season. I’m going bold here, and I’m saying Ben Eager is going to bounce back and be an Oiler in 2013.