What The Edmonton Oilers Blue Line Should Look Like Next Season
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers’ blue line needs to be as good as they were this past season, if not better. Going into a new season after ending on a disappointing note might be hard for some teams, but for the Oilers, they cannot let their disappointing sweep hurt their play.
The Oilers’ defence did their best to help the team win, but they apparently gave up a lot more chances than expected last season. When one thinks of the Oilers they think of a great offence that can score goals at will, well this last season saw the team register 399 scoring chances, but they gave up 766 scoring chances over the course of their season.
Every team is going to give up some scoring chances but to be outperformed that bad is kind of sad for a team as offensively powerful as Edmonton. Breaking up scoring chances and getting the puck going the other way needs to be the main focus of the blue line, especially considering how many second and third scoring opportunities the team gave up during their postseason series against Winnipeg.
Here is what the blueline probably will look like on opening night:
Darnell Nurse – Ethan Bear
Kris Russell – Adam Larsson
Caleb Jones – Evan Bouchard
This leaves Philip Broberg, William Lagesson, and a few other guys that do not have contracts for now out of the lineup. I put Larsson in even though he does not have a contract because I believe he is a must-sign for this team.
Russell and Larsson was a good shutdown pairing and that shouldn’t change going into this new season. Nurse is losing his linemate if Tyson Barrie does not re-sign with the team, and if that is the case then I think Ethan Bear should get a chance on the top line. While this was not Bear’s best season, one way for him to bounce back is to play with the best of the best.
Now one player that could completely change how the lineup looks is Oscar Klefbom, if he returns from his injury then the entire pairings will have to change drastically. The Oilers miss Klefbom but obviously, his individual health comes first.