The Edmonton Oilers have eight defencemen on their NHL roster. While this is merely a summer roster, subject to change even prior to training camp, the team also has several viable options in the AHL as well. There is a fair amount of change, both in terms of new players as well as a new coaching staff. In all it is a crowded room.
Let’s take a closer look at how the blueline might shake out come the start of October.
Top pairing to remain unchanged
The main assumption is that the Oilers will keep their top pairing together. Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard have been an outstanding fit, a pairing that is both highly skilled and stylistically balanced. While Head Coach Mike Babcock might have other ideas, the duo is about as perfect a fit that either one could hope for from a defence partner.
The issue, of course, is Ekholm’s age. To an extent fans have noticed a drop off, as his minutes were slightly scaled back last season. Bouchard has seen some time alongside Brett Kulak and Darnell Nurse over the past two seasons, and the results have still been encouraging. Even if Ekholm misses time, Bouchard will still constitute half of the Oilers top pairing. While he can make it work with other partners, Ekholm remains the best option for Bouchard.
Finding a shutdown pair
Especially given the offensive firepower that Bouchard brings to the table, the next order of business for Babcock’s blueline will be defining a shutdown pairing. Connor Murphy will likely be the focal point of such a pairing, uniquely positioned as the most traditional shutdown option the Oilers have on the right side.
The process then becomes about finding Murphy a partner. While Jake Walman is the more highly compensated player, newcomer Ryan Shea might be better served in the role. As much as the team was ready to get rid of Darnell Nurse, he still ended up being the much more effective fit alongside Murphy last season. There is certainly a chance the Oilers try to make a Walman-Murphy pairing work once more, just as there is a chance that the duo sees better results next time around.
In any case, both Shea and Walman are being paid to be fixtures in the Oilers top-six. Walman has the higher offensive upside, but Shea is still capable of being the primary puck mover on a pairing. In some sense this might make Shea more suited to a role on a shutdown pairing, just as Walman might be best served with more advantageous offensive usage.
Third pairing options
In any event the Oilers will have both to utilize, and either Walman or Shea is a great place to start building the third pairing. With the top pairing of Ekholm and Bouchard able to handle any situation, and the shutdown pairing with Murphy able to handle tough defensive assignments, there is some leeway to shelter a third pairing to an extent.
This is especially relevant given the drop off to the next tier of Oilers defencemen, as well as the ability for both Walman and Shea to play their weak sides on the right. The balance of handedness will be important under Babcock, but it is certainly something that the Oilers will have options to work around.
As it stands, the Oilers have three other defencemen on their NHL roster. Left shot Spencer Stastney and right shot Ty Emberson return from last season, and Emberson might be seen as having the inside track as a right shot, but results from last season might suggest something else.
Both Stastney and Emberson had subpar results alongside Walman last season. Their best results came while paired together, which is informative. Stastney is more of a puck mover who appreciates some defensive help, while Emberson is more of a defensive presence who requires a puck mover. Shea might fit alongside Emberson as well, but again Emberson’s poor results alongside Walman are concerning.
Both Emberson and Stastney are UFAs at the end of the season. Stastney is the more recent acquisition, but is more redundant within the Oilers blueline. Emberson, meanwhile, has failed at gaining meaningful traction or chemistry in the group. Both are useful players who might still have some room to grow, but their place within the team’s future are in doubt.
Where will Mukhamadullin fit?
Enter left shot Shakir Mukhamadullin, who does have some experience on his weak side. Roughly two years younger than both Emberson and Stastney, Mukhamadullin has more runway to improve. This is especially notable given that Mukhamadullin has long been thought of as a raw prospect. With a lot of physical attributes, from his size to his booming shot, there are things for him to work with.
Mukhamadullin spent last season with the San Jose Sharks, and fared quite well in his first year of full time NHL duty. The Sharks were overmatched, especially on the blueline, but the results for Mukhamadullin were encouraging. While he spent most of the season paired with Mario Ferraro in a shutdown role, he performed well alongside more of a puck moving option in Dmitri Orlov. While he does have some defensive traits, Mukhamadullin needs a primary puck mover to be at his best.
This bodes extremely well for his fit alongside Walman, Shea, or Stastney. While all three of these options are left shots like Mukhamadullin. Between them there is some flexibility to play their weak sides. On top of this, especially with Darnell Nurse gone, Mukhamadullin’s physicality is a needed attribute on the Oilers blueline. If he is able to continue refining his game, there is a path for Mukhamadullin to win a regular spot this season and beyond.
With the Ekholm-Bouchard and Shea-Murphy pairing eating up a ton of tough minutes, a Walman-Mukhamadullin pairing could be somewhat sheltered. A puck moving option like Walman might help give Mukhamadullin some added opportunities to use his shot, while also providing Walman with a bruising physical partner to handle some defensive dirty work. The duo would have enough upside to push for more icetime, perhaps calling into question which pairing fans see as the second or third pairing.
Depth is there for the blueline
The Oilers do have some depth beyond this current group. Veterans with some NHL experience like Riley Stillman and Josh Brown should only be emergency options, and will likely go unclaimed when waived. Prospects like Tomas Cibulka and Beau Akey are not within striking distance of NHL action. Damian Carfagna is perhaps the closest to a call up, and might position himself well with a strong first half of his AHL season.
Still, the most plausible options are offensive left shot Atro Leppanen and big right shot Alec Regula. Regula is younger, a bit more intriguing, and has some NHL experience already. It seems he fell out of favour last season, but given his extensive time lost to injuries and the slower development of bigger defencemen there still might be an NHL future for him. With his right shot and his reasonable puck skills, he remains an interesting project, if no longer a prospect by most definitions.
All this is to say that the Oilers will have some flexibility and security in sorting out the defensive logjam at the NHL level. The Oilers might well decide to keep their roster as is to start, with three goalies, eight defencemen, and no extra forwards to start the season. Injuries are inevitable, and might sort out the issue temporarily as well. They might try to pass one of their defencemen through waivers after training camp, hoping they go unclaimed.
Or, there might be another trade brewing. Stastney and Emberson would seem most likely to be the odd one out in such a case. Stastney is more redundant within the Oilers system, while Emberson might be the more valuable trade asset as a right shot. In any case, it is valuable for the Oilers to be dealing from a position of strength at the position.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
