New Edmonton Oilers beat writer officially joining the scene this season
The Edmonton Oilers will have a new beat writer around the rink starting this fall.
Months after Daniel Nugent-Bowman announced his departure from The Athletic back in January, the publication has officially found his replacement. On Tuesday morning, the online sports publication announced that it had hired Janson Duench to be its new Oilers writer for this upcoming season.
Duench revealed on social media that he had recently moved to the Alberta capital to take on the job.
“Incredibly excited for this next step in my writing/reporting journey. I’ve moved to Edmonton to cover the Oilers for The Athletic,” Duench wrote.
šØ New writer announcement šØ
Please welcome @reporterJD, who will be covering the Edmonton Oilers for The Athletic. pic.twitter.com/sWPj2hyWaW
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 11, 2026
The Athletic did not have a full-time writer covering the Oilers for the second-half of last season and during the team’s first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks.
It appears that Duench made the move from Sault Ste. Marie, where he most recently worked as the news and sports reporter for the Sault Star newspaper. His previous roles also include being a sports reporter for the Ottawa Citizen and a freelance reporter for The Hockey News.
Duench will have his work cut out for him as DNB is leaving behind some big shoes to fill. Nugent-Bowman has since moved on from being an Oilers beat writer, having announced his new position as the managing editor of SportsCage.com, a website focused primarily on Saskatchewan sports, back in June.
The Edmonton sports media scene has seen quite a few changes over the last few months. Outside of Nugent-Bowman’s departure, longtime Edmonton sports broadcaster Kevin Karius announced his retirement, and local sports reporter Tom Gazzola shuffled from Edmonton Sports Talk to Sports 1440.
As the sports landscape continues to shift in the Alberta capital, it will be interesting to see how Duench will fit into the grand scheme of things.