The Oiler season ended mercifully on Saturday night and the long off-season began with the year-end media availability from the General Manager. Last year it was MacT telling everybody he was comfortable going into the next season with the league-worst defense, this time it was Chiarelli confirming what many Oiler fans have known for a long time: The Defense needs serious improvement.
David Staples at the Cult of Hockey transcribed the availability and you can read it here. This is what he said about the defense:
I am reasonably confident that I’ll be able to address it in a meaningful way. I’m not going to get into specifics. If you’re asking if it’s in a trade or not, that’s probably based on the free market, that’s probably the most effective way.
Um, well, I’d like to upgrade our defence. I guess I could trade our pick. So short answer, yes. We have a surplus of forwards and we’ve got a lack of defenceman. That’s probably the easiest formula. Yes, I could absolutely I could do it without trading those guys. Any of those guys. I don’t specifically mean those three players. Any of our players.
Travis Hamonic has been linked to the Oilers from the moment the news broke that he demanded a trade to Western Canada. Since that time other reports were out that the talks between the two sides have been ongoing since late summer. Hamonic played an entire season being a real pro about the situation, but I expect a resolution to come soon.
When Chiarelli says he’s reasonably confident he can get something done to address the defense, don’t be shocked if Hamonic is the reason for his confidence.
He also confirmed what many identify as the Oilers’ only real area of strength. The team has a glut of forwards and very few defenders (righties specifically). I agree with Chiarelli that it would be a lot easier to trade a forward (RNH, Eberle, etc) for a defenseman. When GMs come calling, they want the best of what Edmonton has to offer. However, it’s interesting to note that Chiarelli believes he has options that don’t require trading roster players.
The unrestricted free agent market might produce a couple players of interest for Edmonton, their 1st round pick will fall anywhere between 1st and 5th depending on the lottery, and the opportunity to offer sheet an RFA is available too. It IS possible to address the blueline without giving a current player up. It’s just a lot less likely.
Chiarelli is no idiot. He knows what Edmonton has and what they need. This club is stacked with useful left-handed defenders: Klefbom, Sekera, Davidson, and Nurse. At the same time they have nobody on the right side who should be slotted higher than the 3rd pairing. Oesterle has logged a lot of minutes on the right side, but he’s a lefty too. Fayne has been playing out of his depth all season. They traded Schultz because he couldn’t defend at all. Gryba is a 3rd pairing guy. Pardy is a third pairing guy. Clendening is a replacement level talent. It’s ugly and makes every single pairing weak.
As the off-season wears on we’ll most-definitely be exploring different options open to Chiarelli. There are quite a bit, but most of them require giving up very valuable pieces. The Oilers don’t have the luxury of avoiding the defense any longer. It’s criminal to have a young McDavid surrounded by players like Hall, RNH, Eberle, and Draisaitl but not employ enough defensemen to get them the puck with regularity.
Chiarelli has watched the Oilers for a year. The blame moving forward falls squarely on his shoulders if this team can’t progress.
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