Edmonton Oilers: The Search for Defence
By Kris Hansen
The Edmonton Oilers need another top four, established defence man. Sure, they have some good youthful up and comers like Darnell Nurse, Brandon Davidson and Griffin Reinhart on the left side, but they sorely need an established right handed shot that slots in the top four.
Now, this post is just pure speculation and I’m giving my two cents into who the Oilers should be looking at. Your guess is as good as mine to who the Oilers are going to acquire.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a possible Nashville and Edmonton trade where Nugent-Hopkins would go to Nashville straight up for Seth Jones. I weighed the pros and cons of a possible deal.
Earlier this week, Seth Jones was traded one for one, but it was to Columbus for Ryan Johansen.
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No, this doesn’t mean that Management was sleeping or that somehow the Edmonton Oilers fanbase is responsible for making a move happen (yes, there are a minority of people who believe that garbage). From my view, it meant that the Predators had a choice in enters and I can’t blame them for going with the bigger and more offensively inclined Johansen over Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
It happens.
That said, there are three defencemen that I believe the Edmonton Oilers should be looking quite heavily at.
Travis Hamonic
David Staples of the Edmonton Journal wrote a piece about how a New York Columnist claimed that Travis Hamonic would be dealt to the Edmonton Oilers by the Trade Deadline.
Of the three defencemen that will be mentioned, I think Hamonic is the most likely player to be dealt to the Edmonton Oilers. His trade demand is unique: he wants to be traded to a location closer to home.
However, I don’t think a trade is imminent with the Islanders for a couple reasons. One: Johnny Boychuk is out four to six weeks with an injury. Also, Hamonic did not play last night due to injury. It’s kind of hard to make a trade when there’s injuries on the back end.
It’s been rumoured/speculated that Jordan Eberle was the main piece to go to Brooklyn as noted in Staples’ piece. It’ll take time for it to happen. Hamonic has the best contract of the three: he is signed for an additional three years after this one with a very cap friendly hit of 3.8 million per year.
Kevin Shatternkirk
Funny story about Kevin Shattenkirk: he was a player that I wanted the Edmonton Oilers to draft badly in the 2007 NHL Entry draft with their second pick in the first round at the 15th spot. Shattenkirk was grabbed at the 14th spot instead and the Edmonton Oilers reached with Alex Plante, who last time I checked, was playing hockey in South Korea.
Shattenkirk is rumoured now to be available and he is one of the best puck moving defensemen in the NHL right now. He’s basically what Justin Schutlz should have turned into. Why is he available? A couple of reasons: St.Louis is a cap team and they have Captain David Backes who is slated to be a unrestricted free agent along with winger Troy Brouwer. The year after includes Shattenkirk and Alexander Steen.
Of the three defenceman listed, Shattenkirk is the player I’d love to have the most. He fits an immediate need and slides into that top pairing with Andrej Sekera immediately. He’s a definite top four player but even then, he’s playing behind Alex Pietrangelo. However, the part that scares me the most is the contract status: regardless of whatever package that would hypothetically be sent, the fact that Shattenkirk is a UFA after next season worries me and I feel that it would take a lot to re-sign Shattenkirk, regardless of what team he’s on.
Dustin Byfuglien
Of the three players, Dustin Byfuglien is the best player and he’s also the longest shot for the Edmonton Oilers to acquire. In fact, I’d say it’s more likely that it’s wishful thinking for the Oilers and Byfuglien ending up being a match.
Byfuglien would address that top pairing need like the other defenceman but brings that hugeness and mean streak that the back end. You have to figure that Byfuglien is the heavy type of player that Peter Chiarelli probably craves. With it looking like Byfuglien would make his way to Free Agency, Byfuglien would not be ready immediately.
Signing Byfuglien, would require quite a bit. He’s definitely the headliner of the Free Agent Class (along with that Steven Stamkos guy). Not only would it require a huge cap commitment, it would probably require a long term deal. It brings up a debate if you would want to pay Byfuglien well into his thirties where his game could fall off a cliff.
It would be risky move and the longest shot by far.
Waivers
Waivers are not the way the Edmonton Oilers are going to find that elusive top four defenceman. Especially when it’s the Jakub Kindl‘s and Brandon Gormley‘s that are going on the waiver wire. Both players were not taken. Both players at this point, are third pairing players. They would be upgrades, but slight if not marginal upgrades at best. Plus, they are both Left Handed shots, which does not fulfill a need for the Oilers who are deep on the left side, with Sekera, Klefbom, Nurse, Davidson and Reinhart all on the side. There’s a lot of upside and youth there too.
Could the Oilers use better defencemen? Without a doubt. However, I don’t think Waivers are the answer. I want the Edmonton Oilers to make a move, but a quality one. Those ones take time.
Still, it would be amazing if the Oilers could land of the three mentioned defensemen. If I had to bet, I still think Hamonic ends up an Oiler by next season. Purely speculative though.