Should The Oilers Pursue A Defender?

The Edmonton Oilers have won five games in a row and they now sit right in the thick of the playoff chase in the Pacific Division. That said, Edmonton lost one of their key contributors in Friday night’s win over the New York Rangers. Oscar Klefbom broke his finger and did not travel to Boston with the team for their four game road trip.

Klefbom has been the team’s best defender during the winning streak, and has been right there with Darnell Nurse and Andrej Sekera as the best defenders all season long.

With Klefbom on the shelf for at least four games, possibly more, is it time for Peter Chiarelli to add a defender to this hockey club? I think he should add a competent defender anyways, but this only compounds the issue.

The number of defenders on the market could be pretty big. The New York Islanders still have Travis Hamonic to move after his trade request in training camp, while the Winnipeg Jets could end up moving big Dustin Byfuglien if contract talks don’t go anywhere. We know the Toronto Maple Leafs will be willing to move Dion Phaneuf and rumor has it they are open to dealing Roman Polak and Matt Hunwick too.

The Columbus Blue Jackets might be willing to move Fedor Tyutin, according to The Fourth Period.

Whose The Ideal Target:

The ideal player is Dustin Byfuglien. He’s a solid veteran, he’s big and he’s physical. He is exactly the kind of player that Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan like to have on their hockey team. Systematically, I can’t think of a better fit, seriously.

That said, the Jets are right in the thick of the playoff race too and I highly doubt they trade him within conference. Travis Hamonic is another ideal fit but the asking price is through the roof and it sounds like the Islanders may just force him to play out the year and make a deal at the NHL entry draft in June.

Tyutin is another player I really like, mainly because he is a solid veteran and plays a stand-up style of hockey. He can handle a top-four role and he’s very strong in his positioning while being a tougher guy to play against.

Byfuglien, Hamonic and Tyutin are, to me, the three best fits for the Oilers based on potential asking price and availability. I like Dion a lot too, but something tells me the Maple Leafs are going to end up hanging onto him.

Final Thoughts:

While I certainly think the Oilers should make a move here, I don’t think that they will. Chiarelli and the gang will likely want to see Nikita Nikitin play in some NHL games and this is the perfect chance for that to happen. After all, Nikitin has apparently garnered trade interest around the NHL.

I think the Oilers need to add a defender, not just because of the Klefbom injury but because I don’t think they are strong enough when healthy. Nurse, Klefbom and Sekera is a good start, but another legit top-four defender would go a long way for this hockey club.

Eventually, Chiarelli will pull the trigger on a move. Is the injury enough to push him to do it sooner rather than later? We wait.