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Breaking Down Holland's Big Move |
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I have not been shy about my opinions on how Ken Holland does business. Most times he has shown to lack creativity in making trades, overvalues experience instead of on-ice play, and seems to not understand how the modern NHL operates.
All of that being said; Ken Holland did some excellent work yesterday for the Edmonton Oilers, arguably making the best trade of his Oilers tenure and possibly the best trade this market has seen since the Pronger deal almost two decades ago.
Now I am already going to take a step back on my own words; I am not saying Mattias Ekholm is as good as Chris Pronger. However, Ekholm is now arguably the best defenseman on this team. Nurse is paid the big bucks but there is definitely future scenarios that could see Ekholm as this team's top pairing left shot defender. Edmonton needed to add a legitimate top four defenseman who can play against tough competition and keep pucks out of the net. They got that in Ekholm.
Ekholm is a swiss army knife. Need a guy who can retreive pucks in your own end? Ekholm. Need a guy who can play against top pairings and suppress goals against? Ekholm. Need a guy on the PK? Ekholm. Need a guy to throw out when you are up one goal or down one goal? You get the picture.
Ekholm is an elite defensive defenseman but he isn't slow and he doesn't only defender. Ekholm is strong in transition, can break up a cycle, and make a smart play to enter the offensive end. Edmonton doesn't have anyone on their roster who plays like this and he adds a much needed facet of the game to the roster.
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Now on the cost to acquire him. Reid Schaefer might end up being a good NHL player or he might not. We won't know for sure for at least 3-4 years and the Oilers want to win a Cup before that time. Schaefer doesn't help achieve this. Likewise with the 1st round pick for this season and if everything goes right for the Oilers that pick should be very very low in the first round... hopefully 32nd overall.
Now, onto Tyson Barrie.
Barrie has had an interesting career with the Oilers. Over the past three seasons Barrie ranks 10th among all defensemen in scoring. He is a highly talented offensive player and has been a staple on the top powerplay in the NHL for the past three seasons. I know Barrie was a huge part of this locker room, well liked, and thought by many as a core member of this team. I am sad to see him go.
That all being said a few things need to be cleared up. The Oilers did not lose their PP quarterback in this trade. Tyson Barrie was on the top unit but he is not the PP quarterback; that role belongs to Connor McDavid and to Leon Draisaitl.
The Oilers had the 5th best PP in the league in 16/17 when Oscar Klefbom was on the point, they had the 9th best PP in 18/19 with Klefbom, and they had the top PP in the NHL win 19/20 with Klefbom. Klefbom also wasn't putting up massive points on those powerplays either and yet the Oilers were still in the top end of the NHL on the powerplay. Barrie has excellent offensive instincts but that powerplay was not driven by his play.
Secondly, Barrie was a PP specialist and a third pairing defenseman on this team and against third pairing competition he has been really good for the Oilers, but those numbers drop against any tough competition. Versus middle level competition or elites Tyson Barrie gets outscored when he is on the ice. Despite all of Cody Ceci's struggles this season, Tyson Barrie has not got a shot on the top pairing. That tells you something about how the coaching staff want to utilize and shelter Barrie.
For the powerplay, the task now likely falls to Evan Bouchard. Bouchard has had ups and downs this season but we have seen him play at his best when he is taking shots with confidence and they are finding their way to the net. Hopefully playing on this powerplay will help to reignite that confidence and transition over to his 5 on 5 play as well. The biggest challenge for Bouchard will be ensuring that pucks get to the net and that his shot isn't blocked and suddenly have an odd man rush going the other way. That has been a concern.
Ultimately the Oilers get the best player in this deal, have him signed for three more seasons and address a huge need while trading a redundant asset. This is all really good from Ken Holland's side.
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There are still holes on this roster to be addressed. I would still love to find a way to get Cody Ceci off the top pairing and there is now a need for a right shot defenseman. Nick Jensen from the Capitals would have been an astute pickup prior to the Caps extending him last night. Someone like Scott Mayfield from the Islanders remains a player of interest to me.
Other than that we will likely see a depth move up front, perhaps Nick Bjugstad from the Coyotes that is being held out of their lineup now for trade related reasons and has been tied to the Oilers before.
Other than that I don't think we see a top six add unless Kailer Yamamoto is going the other way. Yamamoto struggled heavily and couldn't finish against the Bruins on Monday night. Something like a Vrana or Bertuzzi for Yamamoto deal could be beneficial but that may not occur before we reach the deadline.
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We may get our first look at Ekholm tonight and if so I would love to see him beside Evan Bouchard on the second pairing. Oilers fans should be happy at what their GM did in this deal and be excited for what this roster can do moving forward.
Thanks for reading!
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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