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If there is one part of the team that lags far behind the others right now it would have to be the Defense. Can we all agree on that? The Oilers’ D is among the worst assembled at the moment and the players worth keeping are all playing over their heads. I don’t think that’s a controversial statement in any way, and with disappointing 1st Round exits for teams that had their eyes aloft towards the Stanley Cup there may be an opportunity for Edmonton to poach a quality player or two.
The Blues loaded up with Miller and Ott for a long playoff run on a team that had a real chance to win the President’s Trophy but fell to the Blackhawks in 6. Now St Louis has to ask itself if they have the right mix to make it out of the West. And if they wont publicly do it, then the media will. Enter Ray Ferraro, TSN’s best (IMO) in game analyst, who suggested they need to beef up their scoring via trade.
Ferraro "would you consider one of the Blues' D like Shattenkirk and Berglund for Eberle and someone else?"
— Hope_Smoke (@Hope_Smoke) April 28, 2014That via @Hope_Smoke who does an incredible job transcribing a lot of the crazy things said on Toronto radio, definitely worth a follow.
Now right away I’m going to come out and say that I wouldn’t Trade Eberle for that package because the Oilers aren’t an offensive juggernaut at all and they can ill-afford to lose their 2nd leading scorer if the forward coming back is Patrick Berglund and the Defenseman is not a true #1. Call me unreasonable, but like David Staples I see Eberle as the best player in the deal and that means the Oil lose a major trade when they cant afford to. That said, I want to jump right past Berglund (whose offensive contributions have been in a slight decline for a few years) and focus more on Shattenkirk.
If the Blues want to shake up their mix or free up money then the Oilers should definitely target Shattenkirk from their roster. He isn’t a perfect defender by any means, but he’s a huge upgrade offensively from every player on Edmonton’s blueline, and that includes Justin Schultz. MacTavish wants to add premiere Defenders to the team, and I would suggest that Shattenkirk can be included in that group on the basis of his offense.
Shattenkirk finished 13th in scoring by defense with his 10-35-45 and 188 shots in 81GP this past season. In 12/13 he finished 25th and in 11/12 he finished 15th in Defenseman scoring. This is a consistently high producing player even from his time on a dreadful Colorado team. He is just 25 years old and even though he isn’t big at just 5’11… he isn’t small either at 207 pounds. He fits well with what the Oilers are trying to build in Edmonton age wise and with his experience in a winning franchise.
So what is the downside to a player like Kevin Shattenkirk from an Oilers standpoint? Well, Shattenkirk is a right handed Defenseman which means that he would either be shifting Justin Schultz or Jeff Petry down the pecking order and that is difficult for some people to wrap their heads around. The Oilers have shown a great deal of trust in Justin Schultz and loaded Jeff Petry with the bulk of the heavy lifting, but neither has actually performed particularly well under those conditions. Petry has done a solid enough job defending sublime opposition and has a favourable Corsi rating given those circumstances, but he hasn’t been able to provide any offense from that position. Justin Schultz has been gifted offensive zone time and PP minutes but generated just 109 shots, which for a supposed offensive defenseman is paltry.
So given that, are we really overly concerned about moving a player like Jeff Petry away from the hammer of difficult opposition? No, but maybe the Oilers would be concerned with handing those difficult opponents to a player like Shattenkirk. The offensively proficient Blue has the luxury of playing behind Pietrangelo and Bouwmeester and soaking up softer ice. He had the 2nd most favourable zone starts on the Blues, softer opposition, and 3:20/game of PP time. As an Oiler it would be unlikely that he would get any of those things, let alone all three. One would expect a drop off in production with the move from a higher scoring Blues team to a lower scoring Edmonton team that also coincides with a drop in offensive opportunities. It’s just a matter of gauging how big of a drop that might be.
Should that mean the Oilers pass on a player like Shattenkirk if a frustrated St Louis Blues club makes him available? I hope not. Edmonton is counting on offense from Justin Schultz and Justin Schultz only. Shattenkirk isn’t a potential offensive defenseman, he is an established offensive defenseman. He has a combination of youth, skill, experience with winning teams, and offense that would make him indispensable on most teams, but not necessarily so for the Blues.
MacTavish just needs to find out if there’s a deal to be made
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