The Edmonton Oilers will enter the 2024-25 NHL season with a glaring hole on the right side of their defense. The team will likely have to deploy one of Josh Brown, Ty Emberson, or Troy Stecher on the second pairing but it strikes as a major need if the Oilers plan on competing for a Stanley Cup again this season.
Radio commentator for the team, Bob Stauffer, indicated today that a right-handed shot defenseman with term will be on Edmonton’s radar this season but is fairly vague about when they will ultimately make that addition. Edmonton still has a few options left on the free-agent market such as Kevin Shattenkirk or Justin Schultz. Still, Stauffer’s report indicating that the Oilers are looking for term attached likely alienates any current free-agent candidates.
Not only will it push Edmonton away from any free-agent options but the report from Stauffer indicates the Oilers will peruse the trade market for a second pairing right-handed shot defenseman. Their options are limited at this stage of the NHL calendar but there are still a few options worth exploring.
Arguably the best option for Edmonton resides about 200 miles south in Calgary. Rasmus Andersson of the Calgary Flames has two years and $9.1MM remaining on his contract and represents an ideal candidate for the Oilers to plug into their top four. He’s scored 138 points in 239 games for the Flames over the last three years while averaging 23:31 of ice time per night. Andersson can be trusted in all situations and is a responsible player in the defensive zone.
Despite the fit and the separate trajectories of both teams — the Oilers and Flames don’t like each other to put it bluntly. The two organizations have only connected on three trades in their histories with the most recent coming in 2019 being a swap of James Neal and Milan Lucic. General manager of the Flames, Craig Conroy, has shown a willingness to trade within the Pacific Division but aiding his organization’s biggest rival may be too bitter of a pill to swallow.
The Washington Capitals are another option although they would not be considered a rebuilding organization. The team brought in Matt Roy this summer on a six-year, $34.50MM contract which may make them more comfortable moving a defenseman such as Trevor van Riemsdyk. He wouldn’t be as much of a needle mover as Andersson but he would be a more reliable option than their internal candidates.
The younger van Riemsdyk brother recently played in his 10th NHL campaign last year and has excelled in blocking shots. He’s averaged 126 blocked shots a season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Capitals and the Oilers could use more of that after finishing 30th in the category last season. Adding van Riemsdyk to their defensive core would give Edmonton a grace period in adding a true top-four defenseman as they could then move van Riemsdyk to the bottom-pairing next to Darnell Nurse or Brett Kulak.
Edmonton will be hard-pressed to find other options on the trade market with most teams having already finalized their roster heading into the 2024-25 NHL season. The Oilers are unique as their offense could easily carry them to the trade deadline but the right side of their defense must be addressed before the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Are they really looking for a defenseman? Why did they go out and sign Arvidsson (and/or Skinner) for $7 million then? You would think they would’ve been prepared for an offer sheet to hit and take away Broberg so they could’ve kept Ceci instead of signing Arvidsson and having a “hole” there.
Call up the Blackhawks and check in on Connor Murphy. Hawks can even retain some salary for the right player and draft pick. Hawks should be going young on Defense anyway. Not older. Too bad Arty got injured already but Hawks have other options and we aren’t taking the Cup this year anyway.
Did you not read the last paragraph? Especially with those signings, they will be able to out-score their opponents most nights. The offer sheets really sent them for a loop mind you, because no one seen that coming. It was a perfect spot for Armstrong, and it worked. Sure this hurts them some now, but it’s probably better in the long run. They’ve been trying to unload Cecil’s contract for like a year or more, so this gives them a reason to pull the plug. They now have a chance to accrue salary cap money through the season. Then they’ll have enough at the deadline to make a significant trade for a defenceman or two.
Call Utah and get Victor Soderstrom.
That’s going to be a long distance call to Sweden.
no one SAW that coming; not ‘seen’
Now suddenly your the grammar police? lol
Law low or you will be the next target.
‘law low’??
Nick Seeler is all yours.
They should call the blues they have to many defenceman on one way contracts. That would be awesome. At least one will have to be moved or put on waivers. lol
Waiver claim payback
Justin Schultz made 3.5×2 with the kraken I think. He was fine. For 900k-1something you get a decent player who can QB pp2. Seems like a cheap buy. Yeah his +/- was horrible but he also spent a lot of time watching Ryker Evans get caved. There’s only so much a 3D can be asked to do.
Fools if they sign Shattenkirk. He is not better then Strecher or Emberson. He was never a good defensive player.
Great point! Must be the reason that he has only been in the league since 2010. Glad that you are on the case.
If Nurse is playing LD3 then the Oilers need 2 dmen on the 2nd pair. They’re looking for a RD2 to push Emberson/Stecher/Brown to 3RD. So pairings look more like:
Ekholm – Bouch
Nurse – New RD2
Kulak – Brown/Emberson/Stecher
the extra guys move to the 7-8 dmen.
The suggestions people are making (Murphy, Seeler, Schultz, Soderstrom, Barrie (in the past convo’s)) are not upgrades on what they have.
They don’t need a PP2, Nurse is capable of that and Bouch has PP1 locked up. PK1 is Ekholm – RD2, PK2 = Kulak – RD3.
Oilers need a true shut down for 2nd pair to take defensive pressure off Nurse who looked blind in his own end last year. Unfortunately they don’t have the cap space to afford a true shut down 2RD. Ceci wasn’t working there and finding a better use of his cap was smart, what they used that savings on may not have been so smart.
why would a GM sign a blind d-man to a $9M/year contract??
That is the 9 million dollar question….
@Dons, because Hollamd is an idiot.
Who is this Hollamd?