In the next in my series of offseason acquisition options for the Edmonton Oilers, I’ll be looking into the possible merits of pursuing C Tyler Bozak of the St. Louis Blues.
What has he done recently?
Bozak just finished a campaign where he dealt with some injury issues. At 5-on-5, Bozak potted 2 goals and 9 points in 31 games while seeing 11:20 TOI/gm. This translates to 1.54 pts/60 which would constitute 2nd/3rd line-level offense and would tie him with Ennis for 4th on the Oilers in per-60 scoring rate. Further, his lines got outscored 12-18 (40% GF) and out-chanced 116-155 (42.8% SCF) at 5-on-5 while seeing 43.7% of his faceoffs in the offensive zone.
By no means an impressive season, but is there more to the story? Why yes, there is!
In his 2 seasons with the Blues prior to 2020-21, Bozak scored 29 and 38 total points- good for 1.77 and 1.82 5-on-5 pts/60, respectively- and his lines outscored (54.6% GF) and out-chanced (51.1% SCF) their opposition. Both of these seasons saw his goal shares compared well with his team’s overall rate which continues a trend dating back to 2015/16 that has seen Bozak outperform his teammates in goal share in 4 of 5 seasons.
The only negative season was in 2018/19 but even that was still close to even at -1.83 relGF%. This trend is mirrored in his line’s relative scoring chance results, as well! The combination of these speaks to Bozak’s ability to drive positive results for his team.
What could he bring to the Oilers?
Beyond this, Bozak is a top-notch faceoff man posting 56.5% on the dot at 5-on-5. This kind of faceoff prowess alongside his handedness would fill a couple of important gaps on the Oilers. His time with the Blues has seen him be relied upon as a go-to PK guy with almost 2 shorthanded minutes/game this past season. While his results in this respect don’t jump off the page, he seems to consistently track within range of his teammates.
He’s a relatively non-physical player (2.8 hits/60; around Nygard) while demonstrating moderate defensive abilities with 2 blocks/60 (in range of RNH) and 1.8 takeaways/60 (in range of Puljujarvi).
As far as playoff performances, Bozak is a pretty average player where he produces around 0.5 pts/game (27 pts in 56 games)- the bulk of which came in his Cup run with the Blues in 2019.
Bozak is a pending UFA coming off a 3-year contract that saw him paid $5mil per year.
Conclusion
To conclude, despite his dip this year, Bozak has a track record of both scoring and outsourcing. While the latter dipped this past season, he might be a reasonable bet to bounce back in the right situation. His strengths are his 5-on-5 scoring, his ability to outscore the opposition, and his utility as both a key faceoff guy and a regular PKer.
What works against him is his age (35) which, in conjunction with his dip in performance and injuries this past season, make him a very real risk. However, if deployed correctly he could represent a genuine upgrade and solid veteran presence to support the development of the team’s bottom-6… or he could be Kyle Turris 2.0.
What are your thoughts on Bozak? Is his history with the Leafs enough to disgust and deter you? Are there other players you’re interested in reading more about? Let me know in the comments!
(Stats per Natural Stat Trick)