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Oilers Sign Shore To 2 Year Deal

June 9, 2021, 7:52 PM ET [20 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wednesday afternoon the Oilers announced they had come to a two year deal with forward Devin Shore. It is a 2 year deal worth 850,000 per season. From the eye test, Devin Shore was a solid bottom six winger who had the ability to step in and play centre. Despite playing in only 38 games this season, Shore finished fourth in hits on the team with 73. During the playoffs Shore came in and provided some energy on a fourth line with Jujhar Khaira and the duo looked solid together.

The numbers tell a different story. Shore was one of the worst forwards this season for the Edmonton Oilers at generating chances for while simultaneously getting crushed in his own end. His CF%, for those not familiar with the metric is a percentage that is calculated by taking shot attempts for, and dividing it by shot attempts for and against, was a team worst 38.35%. Shore posted the second worst xGF% among all forwards with the worst on the team being Kyle Turris. Shore was generating scoring chances at a Kyle Turris rate which is not a group anyone wants to be in.

Shore scored 4 goals at even strength, but two of those were empty net goals. At 5 on 5 Shore only scored 2 goals which puts him in a category for forwards with Kassian, Turris, and Gaetan Haas. Khaira also played far better away from Shore than with him, posting a 47.71CF% away from Shore but dropping to a 38.15% when the duo were together.

On paper this isn't a a deal that's going to hurt the Edmonton Oilers. Shore will either be a fill-in fourth line option or be a contract that can easily be buried in the minors. The more concerning piece is what this says about Ken Holland and the plan moving forward. A two year deal says Holland doesn't just want another fill in option for a year; he expects Shore to be a regular player for the team and once again the stats and analytics simply do not back that up as a good idea. The Oilers remain one of the few teams in the league that do not have a legitimate analytics department. Why? Why not have those resources at your disposal to have one more piece to look at when making decisions.

Having a "Devin Shore" as a depth option is fine providing he is not playing every game... or every second game for that matter. Where I am concerned is that if Ken Holland believes this team needs to acquire more "Devin Shore's" for the bottom six. Depth scoring remains the top priority for the Oilers moving forward; Holland cannot afford to have a summer where he rebuilds the bottom six based solely on PK prowess.

Thanks for reading
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