Braydon Coburn – Just a Piece Not a Savior

There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the Oilers the last few days, and since the Oilers haven’t made the playoffs in eight long years, this becomes the favourite time of year for most of us fans. Additions, signings, drafts, trades, no matter how you look at it the next six weeks or so are going to be exciting times for the Oilers and if those times are exciting enough, well who knows, maybe the team won’t be out of contention by the end of November this season.

One of the most anticipated and most desired moves is for MacT to bring in a top pairing defender. The team that keeps coming up in these rumors is the Philadelphia Flyers, and the name that always seems to float to the top is Braydon Coburn. Well I want to tell you that if you are excited about Braydon Coburn coming in to the Oilers and being a legit number one defender, well don’t be.

Now don’t get me wrong Coburn does some good things on the ice, but he’s not a bonified number one NHL Defender, he’s a two at best. As the Oilers roster stands now he would step in and probably be the best defender on the team, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Think Jeff Petry playing as a top two when you know he shouldn’t be getting those kinds of minutes.

Coburn averaged a little over 22 minutes per game last year and contributed 17 points. He can play in all situations but didn’t get a lot of powerplay time last year, he does have a good shot though, but as far as my limited viewing of this player, his first pass isn’t the best out there and I think his decision making while turn the puck up the ice is a little slower than one would like from a top two guy.

Now there are some things about him that the Oilers must really like, on a team that is often criticized for being too small, Coburn stands at 6’5” and weighs 220lbs. Couple that with his experience, 29 years old, 575 NHL games, and he’s played a few seasons beside Chris Pronger. You wonder if he can be better than he’s shown so far. The problem with that statement though is this, he’s 29 and the Oilers don’t need players that you have to wonder about anymore, it’s been talked about very much here around the Oilers Rig and the other fine Oilers blogs and fan sites, time to start winning now.

Ok enough of what I think. Like I mentioned above I have pretty limited viewing on the Flyers so I went out and asks some Flyers fans what their opinion on Coburn is.

I started with valued friend of the Oilers Rig and die hard Flyers Fan Wade Keyte;

My opinion on Coburn is pretty simple, I think he is a middle pairing guy at best. Having watched him play against the likes of Crosby and Malkin he looks overpowered and sometimes lost. I think that’s the reason the Flyers made such a push to get Andrew MacDonald.

That being said, I think the Flyers were really banking on Chris Pronger mentoring him. The Pronger injury really set his development back.

Then I asked the Oilers Rig’s own Shawn Kelemen his thoughts (He’s a pretty big Flyers Fan and I know he watches a lot of their games);

Coburn is a solid number three who can handle big minutes. He’s fast for a big guy, mean and can clear the net. He’s an awesome shutdown player.

His limitations are his offensive instincts and lack of will to keep the play alive, which can be frustrating. He is a perfect complement to a puck moving defenseman.

The folks over at Broadstreet Hockey wrote a good year end review about Coburn, here is a quote that stood out for me;

Coburn brought some much-welcomed mobility to the blueline. He looked much calmer and more comfortable than he had the year before, and he pushed possession in a positive direction (the Flyers got 51.1 percent of all even-strength shot attempts with Coburn on the ice), despite frequently being used as a key defensive stopper against the other team’s best players.

The conversation about Coburn started a good healthy debate amongst a few of us Oilers Rig writers. While I agree with most of what Shawn says, I do think he’s better than a number three, If the Oilers can acquire him I’d be a happy camper but I’m not nor will I be convinced that he’ll be a true number one. If he can ride shotgun with a legit one defenseman then I think he’d be the perfect fit, as evidenced by his number this year playing alongside Kimmo Timmonnen.

Who knows if the Flyers are willing to trade him, and if the Oilers have what it takes to get him. MacT has been all over the place talking about his plans, and you’d have to think that the this particular defenseman is a player that’s on his radar. Only time will tell.

Thanks for Reading.