Yahoo Sports New Oilers Defenders Nearing Their Return
EDMONTON -- It's not easy getting up to game speed.
Just ask Connor Brown of the Edmonton Oilers. Despite missing most of the 2022-23 season due to an injury and spending an entire summer recovering and training, it still took him most of last season to find his legs.
While the two newest Oilers defenders should take little time to get going, fans shouldn't expect a change overnight.
Before they took on the Washington Capitals last night, Tom Gazzola reported that John Klingberg and Alec Regula were practicing on the ice with assistant coach Mark Stuart.
A look at Alec Regula & John Klingberg working with Mark Stuart at Oilers optional morning skate.
In regard to tonight’s game against the Capitals, Kris Knoblauch says Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will slide to centre with Zach Hyman and says that there will be shuffling to the lines. pic.twitter.com/sChYpfl8fM— Tom Gazzola (@TomGazzola) January 21, 2025
The Oilers need these players to get into the lineup immediately. I have previously written about the team's defense's third-pairing issues.
Those issues haven't gone away.
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Josh Brown filled in admirably on the back end for one game and played 17+ minutes for the first time all year. However, his footspeed is a big issue, and Troy Stecher might be a feisty customer despite his lack of the size that the Oilers' brass covets.
Regula stands 6-foot-4, while Klingberg is 6-foot-2. Both of these defenders have a few inches on Stecher's 5-foot-10 frame.
Klingberg and Regula can both move the puck efficiently. Their skating, big frames, and offensive gifts make them ideal candidates to fill out the Oilers blueline.
They both likely participate in a conditioning stint with the Bakersfield Condors before they make their Oilers' debuts. I wouldn't expect that to happen for two-to-three weeks.
The Oilers are making it work while these two get up to game speed. But once one of them is ready to step in, expect a couple of corresponding moves to arrange everything just so.
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