Edmonton Oilers Prospect Poised to Make NHL Debut Shortly

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Skyler Walker
July 8, 2023 (8:41 PM)

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Tyler Tullio, a fifth-round pick by the Oilers in the 2020 NHL Draft, continues to make strides in his hockey career.

As a rookie with the Bakersfield Condors last season, Tullio notched 13 goals and 26 points, displaying his potential at the professional level.

"For me, I think consistency is the biggest thing. It's a 72-game season and obviously every single game is against men and you can't take a day off," he said. "It was a big jump coming from junior to pro and I really thought I handled it very well. There are a lot of ups and downs in pro hockey, but once again, I thought I handled it well and I'm looking to go in next year with a really strong push and kind of show everybody what I can do."

He recognizes the importance of consistency and plans to further establish himself on the team. Despite facing challenges and experiencing ups and downs, Tullio's understanding of the intangibles and his commitment to hard work drive his progress.

"I mean, everybody can shoot, everybody can skate, everybody can pass, but at the end of the day, it's the intangibles that really come into factor," he said. "I think that's something I've really strived on throughout my whole career, is the little things and a lot of hard work. That's something that I kind of roll my game after, is all those little things.

"I'm here to win, here to play for the Oilers, and no matter how long that takes, I want to push every single day and make it a tough decision on the staff and the coaches."

While still refining his skills, he aims to compete at the highest level and make a strong impact with the Oilers in due time.

"For me, talking to some of the staff in Edmonton and back in Bakersfield is definitely [working on my] my skating," Tullio said. "Obviously, you have 210-pound men leaning on you, and back in junior, you have 16-year-olds who are maybe not as strong, not as physically ready. But here, there's one-year players, there's 10-year players, there's 15-year players in the league. Everybody's here to take kind of food off your plate and outwork you, but I think that's something I hold really well in my game is hard work, and I kind of want to beat the guy next to me."