Oilers Must Fix Lingering Roster Issue

caleb kerney

Wed, Jan 8, 2025, 1:33 p.m.·3 min read

EDMONTON -- Houston, we have a problem.

No, the Edmonton Oilers are not in dire straits. Everything is rosy for the playoff-bound Alberta-based club.

Everything except for a minor issue on the blueline. What's the issue? I'm glad you asked.

The Oilers have two defenders that they don't feel comfortable playing as much as they should, Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson. Emberson has averaged 14:56 per game while Stecher has played 14:12.

For the team to be effective in the playoffs, and not gas their blueline before then, they need to address their defense.

Oilers need to play Emberson and Stecher more minutes consistently or trade for someone who Knoblauch will give that ice time to.

Oilers Lack Internal Replacement Options

Josh Brown was recalled before the Oilers played the Seattle Kraken on the weekend. He replaced Stecher last night against the Boston Bruins and played 11:49.

Brown has only played 12:07 per game in four contests this season. It's clear to me that he is not the answer.

The #Oilers have recalled defenceman Josh Brown from the @Condors. pic.twitter.com/sGtcZYTnXX
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 4, 2025

Alec Regula could be a candidate in the future. He is still recovering from an injury he sustained in 2024. A positive development to note is that he has been skating on his own, but has joined the rest of the team in a group skate setting.

Oilers Could Look To A Trade

Recently, The Fourth Period reported that one of the players that the Oilers were looking to acquire was David Savard. Savard was named alongside Brian Dumoulin and Ivan Provorov in the report.

Savard is a 235 lbs, 6-foot-1, 34-year-old right-handed defender. This year, he has 10 points in 35 games while averaging 18:37 per game. He has spent the majority of his time with one of Lane Hutson or Arber Xhekej.

Bring Out Knoblauch's Secret Weapon

If a deal with the Montreal Canadiens doesn't pan out, how they construct and deploy the lines might require adjustment:

Mattias Ekholm and Ty Emberson
Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak and Troy Stecher

Ekholm and Emberson already log big minutes on the penalty kill, so this is a small adjustment to make. Also, Emberson will often be on the ice with Ekholm in the dying minutes of a game when they are holding on to a lead. This duo can be the team's shut down pairing.

That would free up Nurse and Bouchard to tackle the "middle-six" minutes. They could take zone starts in either end, while having a competent puck carrier and puck mover on the same pairing. The uptick in Nurse's game this season has the potential to make this a very effective pairing for the team.

Kulak has stepped up in a huge way this year. He is averaging the most ice time per game of his career, with 20:09 per game. His previous career high was 17:51 in 2018-19. He is more than capable in anchoring a third-pairing with almost any partner.

As previously stated, they are not in dire straits. However, the Oilers should strongly consider permanently mixing up the pairings or adding another defender to evenly distribute the ice time better.

Houston, we have a solution.

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