The Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers completed a one-for-one trade on Monday (Nov. 4) night, swapping minor-league defenders. The Oilers acquired Ronnie Attard in exchange for Ben Gleason, which frees up some space on the blue line for the Bakersfield Condors moving forward, and gives them some flexibility with their lineup instead of having to scratch a veteran defender every night.
Gleason, who is 26 years old and is a left-shot defender, has just four games of NHL experience with one assist. In the American Hockey League (AHL), he has played 359 games scoring 40 goals and adding 137 assists for 177 points which comes out to a 0.49 points-per-game average. Having moved on from Gleason, let’s now take a quick look at the newest member of the Oilers.
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Attard, who is 25 years old and is a right-shot defender, was drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft at 72nd overall after a strong season in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Tri-City Storm where he scored 30 goals and added 34 assists for 64 points through 48 games. The following season, he joined Western Michigan University in the NCAA. In his first season in the NCAA, he scored six goals and added eight assists for 14 points through 30 games. In his second season, he scored eight goals and added 14 assists for 22 points through 25 games. The 2021-22 campaign was his final season in the NCAA, and he scored 13 goals and added 23 assists for 36 points through 39 games. Once that season was over, he made the jump to the NHL.
Attard scored two goals and added two assists for four points in 15 games with the Flyers after the conclusion of the 2021-22 NCAA season. He would spend the majority of the the 2022-23 season in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms where he scored 12 goals and added 20 assists for 32 points through 68 games, only playing two games in the NHL without notching a point. He also spent most of the 2023-24 season in the AHL, playing 48 games with the Phantoms scoring ten goals and adding 17 assists for 27 points. He also played 12 games in the NHL adding two assists.
Attard’s Size an Attractive Asset to His Game
Attard is listed at 6-foot-3, 207 pounds, and has proven to be a skilled shutdown defender at the AHL level. This season, he has no points through seven games but has shown promise as a potential future depth defender at the NHL level. If he can continue to develop with the Condors this season and the Oilers need to call someone up if injuries start to occur, he could be one of the first ones they consider bringing up.
With the carousel of depth defenders that the Oilers are using on the right side of the blue line this season, Attard has a chance to earn a promotion if any of them start to decline or if the team wants to make a change. While he will benefit from more ice time in the minors and should continue to fine-tune his defensive game as he develops into a future bottom-pairing defensive role player, it wouldn’t be surprising if he earned a few games with the Oilers this season.
Attard is a pending unrestricted free agent, so his play this season will decide whether or not he earns a new deal with the Oilers or if they decide to let him walk into free agency. At the end of the day, this minor-league swap gives the Oilers more depth on the right-side of their blue line, but it isn’t a blockbuster deal that shakes the organization in a big way.
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