The Edmonton Oilers found the offense button for the second time in three games, and beat one of the best teams in the Central Division 6-4. Things fell apart in the last 10 minutes of the third, but a brilliant second period, with multiple goals by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and goals by Draisaitl and McDavid ended up giving the team a nice cushion. Add to that a wonky goal by Brodziak in the first, and a PP marker by Nurse in the third and that was all she wrote.

Now onto the major bad news.

The #Oilers have activated forward Drake Caggiula from Injured Reserve in addition to placing defenceman Oscar Klefbom on IR & assigning forward Cooper Marody to the @Condors. pic.twitter.com/62coLxlQ3j

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 12, 2018

Oscar Klefbom took a shot to the hand in the second period and immediately went to the dressing room; he came back, briefly in the third period but was shut down once more. According to Hitchcock, the timetable on Klefbom's return is weeks and not days. The fact that Klefbom came back for a bit in the third could potentially mean it is less serious, but that is more optimism than fact.

The loss of Klefbom is a massive hit for a team that is already weak on defence. Both McLellan and Hitchcock saw the value in Klefbom and played him heavily. Currently Klefbom sits 7th in the league in ice time, averaging over 25 minutes a game.

Since Hitchcock has come to town, the top 4 have seen their minutes increase, while the third pairing has seen a reduced role. Someone is going to have to step up internally, or an external option is going to have to be found.

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OPTION 1 - USE THE INTERNAL GROUP

Here is the likely lineup with Klefbom out:

Nurse-Larsson
Russell-Benning
Gravel-Wideman
Garrison

Darnell Nurse is the only logical candidate to fill in on the top pairing, and to his credit, it is a role he has performed strongly in before. Last night, Nurse and Larsson played 8:43 together at 5 on 5, went 7-6 in scoring chances, and most importantly were on the ice for two Oilers goals and no goals against.

Last season, when Klefbom was out dealing with injuries, Nurse and Larsson were tasked with anchoring the top pairing and the numbers came out relatively positive. In 820 minutes played together last season, the duo went 50.92CF%, 445-419 in scoring chances for vs against, and an on ice Sv% of 94.03%. I won't put the blame solely on Russell, as Nurse has made plenty of mistakes himself, but Darnell has always played better with Larsson.

There are no good options for the second pairing. Gravel has played well in his role with limited minutes, but I don't think he should spend much time in the top 4 playing 15 minutes a night. Matt Benning has recently calmed his game down again and has not made the 5 alarm mistakes he was earlier in the year.

OPTION 2 - CALLUPS

Some have looked to Ethan Bear as a likely recall, but Jones seems like a much better fit. Ethan Bear has no goals and only 6 points in 16 games this season, while Caleb Jones is 2-10-12 in 21 games. Jones is playing the best hockey of his young career right now and should be the first defenceman called up, should the need arise.

Nurse-Larsson
Jones-Russell
Gravel-Benning

OPTION 3 - TRADE

So this is a thing:

The St. Louis Blues have informed teams that all players are available, including Vladimir Tarasenko, per Jeremy Rutherford. #STlBlues pic.twitter.com/x6cwNdfj1L

— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) December 12, 2018

McDavid to Tarasenko.... ahem...sorry I was dreaming.

The St.Louis Blues look prepared to blow things up and if they do, Chiarelli needs to find a way to take advantage of the team...instead of the other way around.

Colton Parayko would be a dream acquisition that could help solidify the Oilers blue-line for the next decade. I usually leave trade proposals for the comments section but I'll throw one out; 2019 1st round pick and Kailer Yamamoto for Colton Parayko. Have fun guys.

Maybe more realistic would be looking at pending UFA Jay Bouwmeester. The 35 year old left shot defender has a cap hit of $5.4 million dollars which expires after this season. Despite his age, Bouwmeester is still averaging close to 20 minutes a game; add to that Ken Hitchcock is very familiar with the player. Should Edmonton offer a middle round pick and convince St. Louis to retain some salary, the Oilers could roll something like this:

Nurse-Larsson
Bouwmeester-Russell
Gravel-Benning

and when Klefbom returns

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Russell
Bouwmeester-Benning
Gravel

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The Oilers have received a Christmas miracle, going 5-1-0 in the month of December and have put themselves right back in the playoff race. One way or another the team needs to address the roster with Klefbom out and ensure they can stay in the race until his return.

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