By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville — Ortonville native Ben Gleason is an Edmonton Oiler.
Earlier this month the Oilers announced they signed free agent defencemen Gleason to a two-year contract. The first year of the deal is a two-way contract, with the second year being one-way.
“After five years in Austin as part of the Dallas Stars organization I had a tough decision,” said Gleason, 25, during an interview with The Citizen on Wednesday.
“I had a bunch of offers from many NHL teams,” he said. “I then had a call from Edmonton GM Ken Holland and he said, ‘Do you want to play with the two best players in the world right now?’ I thought that’s a pretty good offer.”
Gleason will now be teammates with Oiler Centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, currently ranked the first and fifth top players in the NHL. Holland, has been president of hockey operations and general manager of the Oilers since 2019 prior to that General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings since 1997.
“I’m excited but at the same time sad to leave a place where I could call home for the past five years,” he said. Gleason played in 290 career AHL games with the Texas Stars over the last five seasons, with 29 goals and 141 points.
“They told me to show up in Edmonton and be ready to play in the NHL,” he said. “The offers were all about the same amount, but still I’m just a kid who wants to play hockey. Edmonton is going to be the best fit for me, and to have Ken Holland say that was amazing.”
Edmonton finished the 2022-23 season with a 50-23-9 record, good for second in the Pacific Division. The Oilers were eliminated from the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs in a second-round loss to the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
“It’s going to be a different market in Edmonton,” said Gleason. “It’s going to be a learning curve going to a new team, it’s like returning to school and a new system.”
According to the Edmonton Oilers 2023-24 season preview, Gleason provides more depth on the blue line, with defensmen Earnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard, Vincent Deharnais and Philip Broberg returning.
“You have to challenge yourself to be better than them,” he said. “Is there pressure? Absolutely, you’re going to have pressure for the rest of your life whatever city you play in. But when it’s a Canadian city, it’s going to be more. But that can be a good thing, it may light a fire under your butt.”
In 2014 Gleason, as a Brandon High School sophomore, was considered one of the top defenseman on a U18 Detroit Honeybaked travel team stocked with talent
Gleason was drafted by the London Knights as the 36th draft pick overall in the second round of Ontario Hockey League’s 2014 Priority Selection. The OHL is part of the Canadian Hockey League—a development hockey league with 60 teams in nine Canadian provinces and five American states. Many players move on to the National Hockey League after playing in the OHL. Gleason registered 18 points including 3 goals and 15 assists in 21 postseason contests, helping Hamilton win the OHL championship. Gleason’s 18 points in the postseason shared first among OHL defensemen and were tied for fifth among all team skaters.