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Offseason Options: Could Chris Tierney benefit the Oilers?

By Silas Bengtsson

Mar 7, 2021; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) makes a save against Ottawa Senators center Chris Tierney (71) during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2021; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) makes a save against Ottawa Senators center Chris Tierney (71) during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports /
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For the penultimate addition to my series of offseason acquisition options for the Oilers, I’ll be investigating the potential merits of pursuing 26-year old C Chris Tierney of the Ottawa Senators. Would this ‘young veteran’ be a strong target for acquisition?

What has he done recently?

Unlike his team, Tierney had a pretty consistent season in 2020-21. At 5-on-5, he posted 4 goals and 15 points in 12:33 mins/game (1.3 pts/60; would’ve been 7th among regular Oilers forwards). Certainly not an impressive total but, given the team he played on, it’s hard to not ask if this was simply a byproduct of his surroundings. Beyond this, his line was outscored 25-40 (38.5% GF) and out-chanced 268-306 (46.7% SCF) while seeing rather defensive deployment with only 33.4% of his faceoffs in the offensive zone.

After two seasons in a more prominent role with the Senators, his production dipped from 37 points in 71 games (1.6 pts/60 @ 5-on-5) in 2019-20 and 48 points in 81 games (1.8 pts/60 @ 5-on-5) in 2018-19. This trend demonstrates that, as his role has shifted into seeing more defensive assignments, his offensive production has suffered.

This same trend also shows up in his team-relative goal shares where his lines have gone from -3.8 relGF% in 2018-19 and -3.3 in 2019-20 to -8.0 this past season when he was pushed into more of a shutdown role. Of course, this is hardly an unusual result and one Oilers fans have seen play out many times over the years.

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What can he bring to the Oilers?

As for the rest of his game, Tierney is average on the dot (50.7% over the past 3 years) and is a regular on the penalty kill averaging between 1:29 and 2:18 mins/game over his career- though he hasn’t shown to be particularly effective in that domain.

The past 3 seasons of evidence have shown Tierney to be a non-factor physically with only 2.0 hits/60 (around Nuge) and a middling defensive player with 1.9 takeaways/60 (around Chiasson) and 2.1 blocks/60 (around Nuge). He’s a few years removed from any playoff performances so there’s not much to interpret but he did have a solid run to the Finals with the Sharks in 2015-16 where he posted 5 goals and 9 points in 24 games while his line handily outscored their opposition.

Conclusion

In summary, Tierney is a 26-year old veteran of almost 500 games who brings some productivity to a bottom-6 and keeps it close in the faceoff circle. However, he doesn’t really excel in any quantifiable domain and, given his performance in a shutdown role this year, may not fit what the Oilers want from a 3C acquisition. That said, if he can be had for relatively cheap and isn’t tasked with running a shutdown line, he could still constitute an upgrade on what the team currently employs.

What are your thoughts on Chris Tierney? Is there another player you’d like to read more about? Let me know in the comments!

(Stats per Natural Stat Trick)

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