Dave Tippett shakes things up after big returns for the Oilers.

A new look for Bear.

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HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Dave Tippett shakes things up after big returns for the Oilers.
Ian Kucerak/Postmedia

The Oilers got some good news over the weekend and that has meant some significant changes for members of their roster.

On Sunday the Oilers saw the return of young defenseman Ethan Bear, but his return may have also signaled a difficult new chapter for defenseman Evan Bouchard in his time with the Edmonton Oilers.

During Sunday's practice Tippett paired Bouchard alongside Bear but had Bouchard swap to the left side of the ice where you would expect him to be considerably less comfortable. Tippett was quick to point out that Bouchard has had experience playing the position in the past, but one has to wonder how much that experience is really going to translate at the NHL level.

"He's played some left before in junior, so we just wanted to have a look at him in the scrimmage today and see how things go moving forward," Tippett said as per NHL.com.

"Some of it comes down to foot position and being able to open yourself up. Not being locked into going just straight up the wall. There are a few tactical things that come into play that you have to look at. You just have to make sure a player is comfortable with that."

The obvious problem here to me is that Bouchard is being asked to take this challenge on in a relatively inexperienced duo of defensemen, but Bouchard has obviously won over his coaching staff and I suspect that this is why he is being entrusted with such a challenge. 

The Oilers also got forward Jesse Puljujarvi back into their lineup on Sunday after his covid scare appeared to be nothing more than a false alarm. This did cause an inconvenience for Puljujarvi who had to fly back from Montreal alone on a private jet, but I think he'll just be happy to be free of the potentially deadly virus. 

Given those returns the Oilers lineup had a bit of a different look on Sunday, here's how it all shook out:

Forwards:

Nugent Hopkins-McDavid-Puljujarvi

Kahun-Draisaitl-Yamamoto

Ennis-Khaira-Archibald

Shore-Turris-Chiasson

Neal or Nygard-Haas-P. Russell

Defense:

Lagesson-Larsson

Bouchard-Bear

Russell-Koekkoek

Jones

Not only will it be interesting to see this new paring in action, but it's also going to be very interesting to see how much of a leash they will get when it comes to a live game. 

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