Benson, Starrett named to AHL All-Rookie Team
CONDORSTOWN, Calif. – The American Hockey League has announced the 2018-19 AHL All-Rookie Team, as voted by coaches, players and media in each of the league’s 31 member cities. Bakersfield was the lone AHL team with two selections and the first AHL All-Rookie Team selections for the organization.
G – Shane Starrett, BAK
D – Jake Bean, CHA
D – Mitch Reinke, SA
F – Drake Batherson, BEL
F – Tyler Benson, BAK
F – Alex Barre-Boulet, SYR
Tyler Benson, Forward (Bakersfield Condors):
Playmaking winger Tyler Benson has tallied a team-leading 63 points along with a plus-19 rating while skating in all 65 games for Bakersfield so far this season. Benson ranks fourth in the entire AHL with 49 assists – the most by an AHL rookie since 2009 – and has helped pace a Condors offense that is averaging 3.52 goals per game, tied for the most in the league. The 21-year-old native of Edmonton, Alta., was selected by his hometown Oilers in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft.
Shane Starrett, Goaltender (Bakersfield Condors):
In his first full AHL season, Shane Starrett has emerged as one of the top goaltenders in the league while helping Bakersfield reach the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time in club history. Starrett has made 40 appearances in net for the Condors as has a record of 25-7-5 – including a personal 14-game winning streak from Jan. 12 to Feb. 25 – and ranks fourth in the AHL with a 2.29 goals-against average and fifth with a .919 save percentage. A 24-year-old native of Bellingham, Mass., Starrett signed as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers on Apr. 10, 2017.
Each player will receive a custom-designed crystal award in recognition of his selection to the 2018-19 AHL All-Rookie Team.
Previous selections to the annual AHL All-Rookie Team include Zdeno Chara (1998), Ron Hainsey (2002), Jason Spezza (2003), Cam Ward (2005), Thomas Vanek (2005), Kevin Bieksa (2005), Jimmy Howard (2006), Dan Girardi (2006), Mike Green (2006), Jaroslav Halak (2007), Ryan Callahan (2007), Bobby Ryan (2008), Brian Boyle (2008), Alex Goligoski (2008), Justin Abdelkader (2009), Alex Stalock (2010), John Carlson (2010), P.K. Subban (2010), Logan Couture (2010), Lars Eller (2010), Brendan Smith (2011), Tyler Johnson (2012), Gustav Nyquist (2012), Justin Schultz (2013), Sami Vatanen (2013), Jason Zucker (2013), Tyler Toffoli (2013), Ryan Spooner (2013), Ryan Strome (2014), Matt Murray (2015), Connor Brown (2015), Viktor Arvidsson (2015), Charles Hudon (2015), Ryan Pulock (2015), Juuse Saros (2016), Brandon Montour (2016), Austin Czarnik (2016), Frank Vatrano (2016), Mikko Rantanen (2016), Casey DeSmith (2017), Devon Toews (2017), Jake Guentzel (2017), Mark Jankowski (2017), Daniel Sprong (2018) and Dylan Strome (2018).
