With the NHL on hold during the Olympics, Oil Country has been left to fester with areas in which the team can improve. Paul Coffey has rejoined the coaching staff. Rumours of adding a defenceman at the deadline are swelling. Clearly there are efforts underway to improve the defensive play of the team, but could there be an in-house solution to the Edmonton Oilers woes?
Perhaps with Coffey joining there will be a new perspective, a chance for change. Though Coach Kris Knoblauch’s is famous for switching up his forward lines, there is a staple pairing on the blueline that often remains untouched. The pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard has been stalwart. Despite their success it might be worth considering a new look on the blueline.
Let’s take a closer look at an outside the box idea to help the Oilers improve.
High standards for the duo
At first the thought of breaking up the pairing of Bouchard and Ekholm might seem absurd. The duo have been so successful together, complementing each other nicely. Ekholm undoubtedly helped Bouchard’s career takeoff, providing a stable defensive presence for Bouchard to play off of. It was not until Ekholm arrived that Bouchard blossomed into an elite player. Even this season the pair has been the Oilers best.
An additional piece of context is that this pairing is often deployed with Connor McDavid. Bouchard’s offensive capabilities are vital to advancing the puck, as well as capitalizing on offensive opportunities. Of course, playing with McDavid will help to skew a lot of numbers in anyone’s favour.
In short, breaking up this pairing has nothing to do with their performance. Rather, it is more a question of whether the team can be more effective if they are deployed differently. To some extent the breakup of the Bouchard and Ekholm pairing is inevitable. While Ekholm is still a very effective player, he is declining with age and nearing the end of his career. Not being selected to Sweden’s Olympic roster is evidence of these facts. Injuries last season limited Ekholm, and diminished ice time might help keep him fresher in the future.
Exploring Nurse with Bouchard
At some point Bouchard will have to prove himself without Ekholm as well. He has proven this a little, excelling alongside Brett Kulak last season. This season, he has authored strong results alongside Darnell Nurse as well. Though their shared time on ice is limited, the pairing of Bouchard and Nurse has seen time together in most games this season.
Among Oilers defence pairings with at least 50 minutes played this season, a pairing of Bouchard and Nurse ranks second in expected goals percentage, per moneypuck.com. The top performing pairing in this metric is Nurse with Ekholm. Both these pairings become intriguing options if the Oilers top pairing is broken apart.
Meanwhile, Nurse has not had success with every partner. Nurse has had some success alongside Ty Emberson, though his strong expected goals percentage with Alec Regula was not reflected on the scoreboard. Most importantly, Nurse’s pairing alongside Jake Walman has been underwhelming as well. This result might be the very impetus for this exercise.
What about Walman?
The truth is that Jake Walman has struggled to find his best hockey this season. Some might worry that GM Stan Bowman’s decision to extend Walman has gone awry, though Walman’s injuries might help to explain some of his struggles. Perhaps the Oilers need to try to find a more suitable partner for Walman.
Unfortunately, Walman has not performed particularly well with any partner this season. This includes Ekholm, unfortunately, though the excuses of injury and a small sample size are present. The Oilers have four quality defencemen, yet are struggling to find two rock solid pairings.
As Nurse seems to be quite effective alongside either of Bouchard or Ekholm, perhaps finding Walman some chemistry alongside Bouchard or Ekholm is the answer. Ekholm would seem to be the more natural fit, though Bouchard’s role of being deployed with McDavid’s line might help.
Optimization options for the Oilers
There is certainly a reality where the Oilers stay with the status quo on the blueline, hoping the Olympic break offers Walman a chance to reset. Perhaps he can start to generate better results alongside Nurse. This is wishful thinking, but at the very least it is a hope founded in something.
Outside of the rest and the coaching adjustment, the Oilers have other options worth exploring. Reworking the top-four might see Walman paired with Ekholm, who might provide some needed defensive support. Perhaps Ekholm can bring the best out of Walman the way he did for Bouchard. This would require one defenceman to play their weak side on this pairing. It has not shown much promise so far, but some extra time together might help. This would leave Nurse and Bouchard to be paired together, maintaining some balance.
Another option is to go with two more unbalanced pairings. It may be unconventional, but pairing Walman with Bouchard would be an interesting offensive duo. Playing behind a McDavid line for most of their time, the Oilers might be able to shield the duo from too much defensive work. This would leave Nurse and Ekholm to pair together, creating a potential shutdown pairing. Nurse already handles a big defensive role, though many choose to focus on his shortcomings. Ekholm would be a great addition in this role.
The final option is for the Oilers to acquire another defenceman to upgrade the group. This might help keep the Bouchard and Ekholm pairing together, but it would leave the team to find the right combination beneath them. As legitimate top-four defencemen are expensive to acquire, especially if they are right handed. The Oilers will have to balance their assets and their wishlist against the prices for players that are available. There is no guarantee that a great fit can be acquired.
Bottom line
What the Oilers can control is how the players on their roster are deployed. A return to NHL action will see the Oilers facing down a breakneck schedule, and looking to hit their stride for the first time this season. Their history of slow starts should be concerning, as well.
The Oilers will have to use the small number of games prior to the trade deadline to their advantage. This could mean experimenting with the lineup, even if it means taking a gander at splitting up their most consistent defence pairing.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
