Let’s talk about Defence

Oilers’ Defence: A Forgettable History

The most glaring need from 2010 onwards has remarkably remained a pressing concern: defence.

The Edmonton Oilers have failed horrendously in acquiring/keeping NHL calibre defencemen.

The list is horrible. The list is not a new list and has been done countless times. However, it needs to be re-iterated: the Edmonton Oilers have been one of the worst teams for the better part of a decade and the defence corps is arguably one of the biggest sore thumbs:

Count ‘Em

That’s 39 different players that have skated on the Edmonton Oilers blueline. Out of those 39, only 18 of those are NHL defencemen. You can knock it down to 16 if you want to exclude Smid and Ference, who look to be on the LTIR. From 16 you could knock three off with the guys who can barely play at the NHL level, like Chorney, Potter and Reinhart. So that leaves you with 13. That’s a pitififul 34% of those players who have played for the Oilers that are still currently in the NHL.

Granted, this is a bit unfair to bubble players like Musil and Reinhart, but it’s a glaringly bad number. The blueline has been a long time issue with the team and Chiarelli has tried his hand at attempting to fix said defence.

What We Have Now

My projected Defensive Pairings right now, as of July 19th, are the following:

Klefbom-Larsson

Sekera-Davidson

Nurse-Fayne

First Pairing

With it being nearly four weeks since the Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson trade, I find it hard to believe that people say that Adam Larsson will not help the Oilers defence. Defence has been such a glaring issue for the Edmonton Oilers: from moving the puck, defending the puck, it’s been woeful.

I want to talk about Oscar Klefbom here: I think Klefbom is our future number one defencemen, not only that, but he is our number one defenceman. He struggled earlier in the season when he was paired with Justin Schultz but really started to shine before he got injured. Heck, I think it’s a fair argument that the Oilers suffered more from the loss of Klefbom than Connor McDavid.

There are big questions with his health: can he stay healthy for the year? I’m optimistic where there’s a lot of pessimism as the staph infection, while serious, was a flukey injury. It wasn’t a shoulder or knee issue here. As Staples pointed out back in April, Klefbom is a good bet to be a good defenceman, it’s just a matter of health and consistency.

I also think while Larsson benefited from Andy Greene, he will transition to a very capable partner in Oscar Klefbom. People saying he’s a second pairing defenceman that was over his head are wrong: Larsson constantly handled tough minutes and tough zone starts for a good reason. I think Klefbom and Larsson will be a very capable top pairing. Probably the best top pairing we have had for years.

Second Pairing

Some people harp on Sekera for shooting the puck into opponents shin pads when he is on the Power Play. Sekera also did not make fast fans after a sluggish start to his season. However, once the season started to move along, so did Sekera. When Klefbom went down, Sekera was easily the best Oilers defenceman last season. Remarkably, Sekera played 81 games last season which as a personal high. Offensively, he broke the 30 point mark for a second time with exactly 30 points. He’s a very solid defenceman and while the Oilers did overpay last season in term and money, he’s a capable top four defenceman.

Brandon Davidson was the best rookie on the Oilers not named Connor McDavid. The former 6th round draft pick in 2010 really came out of nowhere as he beat out Darnell Nurse for an opening night roster spot.Using the good ol HERO chart, Davidson is a beauty as he scores top pairing marks for shot suppression while scoring almost top pairing marks for possession. A knee injury was crushing last season, but it did not seem to have any ligament damage. Best yet, Davidson did not look out of place on the right side. He can easily play top four minutes.

Third Pairing

This is where it hurts. Darnell Nurse had a strong start and has those drool worthy intangibles: strong, smooth skating and can hit like a truck. However, the fancy stats paint a story where he is a possession black hole. Is this to be expected for an NHL rookie who often played over his head? I certainly hope not as I am a fan of him. That said, he definitely slowed down as the season wore on. I would much rather have another third pairing option and let Nurse play in the AHL: I felt he was barely staying a float in the NHL. It’s a toss up between him and Griffin Reinhart.

Mark Fayne is having a make or break season coming up. To say Fayne had a brutal season was an understatement as the veteran spent time in the AHL. Known for being more of a defensive defenceman, there were too frequent of times where Fayne looked incapable of doing that. Still, it was almost like an Anti-Nurse: near the end of the season Fayne looked better. It’s been reported that he is in the best shape of his life coming into training camp, but it’s a wait and see approach.

When it comes to the defence, I’m not sure I am comfortable with this pairing.

Conclusion

While the top four of Klefbom, Davidson, Sekera and Larsson have an average age of 24.75, which is fairly young, I think it’s a capable top four.

I would feel much better if the Oilers acquired another right handed shot that can move the puck. I feel a Tyson Barrie or James Wisniewski would be decent options. Defence Pairings of:

Klefbom-Larson

Sekera-Barrie/Wisniewski

Davidson-Fayne

Alex Thomas has talked about Wisniewski before and I too am a fan of Wisniewski.

I think this defence would look rather good – dare I say competitive even?. Especially compared to the lesser quality players the Edmonton Oilers have employed since 2010. Still, they are one piece away from having that competent defence that we fans have been craving.