The Edmonton Oilers had a terrific run in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. One major reason was the remarkable health of their blueline. Their three pairings were very consistent throughout the regular season, but were eventually shifted around in the playoffs. Now, since the season ended, and management believing they were in good shape, things have changed. An offer sheet, a signing, and a trade have made the Edmonton Oilers defensive squad very different. Therefore, let’s dive in to see how the 2024-25 Edmonton Oilers defence compares to 2023-24.
The Best of the Edmonton Oilers 2024-25 Defence
For our comparison, we will review the defence in parts. First of all, the top pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. This pairing has developed into one of the best in the entire league. Moreover, there’s no reason to think the 34-year-old Ekholm will see any negative regression in his game. He’s too smart, too strong positionally, just the ultimate game manager. As for Bouchard, his development into an offensive force from the backend has been quite impressive. Bouchard himself may actually continue to improve, which is scary to think. It’s not for certain the pair will improve on last year, but don’t look for them to fall back either. In terms of year-over-year, we can put the top, minute-munching pair at equal.
One of the Oilers Team Big Deciding Factors, Not Just Defensively
After those two, the next man up is Darnell Nurse. Nurse gets a lot of flack because of his $12 M price tag. Regardless, he has been tremendously consistent over the past number of years. Going back to 2017-18, he’s never missed more than 11 games in a season. He’s ranged between 26 and 43 points and played a minimum of 21:54 of average ice time. Furthermore, he’s averaged around 160 hits per season. In addition, his toughness and battling in front of the net really shone through in the 2024 playoffs. The trouble might be finding a suitable partner for him, or for our discussion, one that is better than 2023-24.
Finding Who Will Partner up with Nurse
Last season Nurse skated an incredible 995 minutes with Cody Ceci on his right side. That’s the equivalent of 75 games or so. However, just a little over a week ago now, Ceci was dealt to the San Jose Sharks. In return, the Oilers acquired a still developing defenceman, Ty Emberson. If Emberson is going to show he is a capable NHL defender, at 24, now’s a good as time as any. Will he automatically slot in with Nurse? Not necessarily, but if he shows to be a contributor at the NHL level, you aren’t really losing much compared to Ceci. That chemistry between Nurse and Ceci, highlighted by their xGoals% of 54.8%, was going to be difficult to replicate anyway.
Brett Kulak is back and he is a more than a competent third-pair, left side defender. Again, with Vincent Desharnais’ departure in free agency to the Vancouver Canucks, it will be difficult to match last year’s efficiency. Collectively, last year they had Ceci, Desharnais, and Broberg. That is compared to the 2024-25 Edmonton Oilers defence right now with Josh Brown, Troy Stecher, Emberson, and $946K in cap space. The Oilers spent the offseason bolstering their forward group, but now it is critical to shift their focus to shoring up the backend. Between Brown, Stecher, and Emberson, they definitely have solid competition for the third-pair, right side.
A More Direct Review of 2023-24 versus 2024-25
If we provide a side-by-side comparative schematic, we see the Oilers defence is definitely weaker as a group right now.
Granted, on paper it doesn’t look good (upgrades would’ve been in green). However, right off the hop, 2/3 of the starters are the same. Also, the Emberson and Ceci swap might be better than first appears, especially when you factor in the career projections of the two defenders at opposite ends of their career. Moreover, Stecher and Brown are capable NHL defenders. The other thing the Oilers have is time. It seems from the rumours rumbling about, that they should have cap relief from Evander Kane being placed on long-term injury reserve.
Trying to Make a Deal for Evander Kane
Kane makes $5.125 M, and if before he comes back from LTIR, it is determined that the Edmonton Oilers need help on defence, perhaps he could be traded. Kane is still very serviceable to teams and can bring scoring depth to a lineup. Lots of teams might be interested, they would just need a bit of cap space potentially and an abundance right-shot defencemen or not in the playoff picture. A team like the Anaheim Ducks, with Radko Gudas could be an option. But so few teams have a surplus of right-shot defencemen. And the teams that do have a surplus, say like Vancouver, don’t necessarily have the surplus in the talent category.
General manager Stan Bowman has also not been focusing on the defence. But in its current form, to start the season the defence is just strong enough to be considered passable. However, it is not considered a strength. Something that last year, given the health and consistency, the unit definitely was a strength to the team as a whole.
The Possibilities of the Free Agency Route
There have been also recent rumours focusing on a plausible veteran free agent acquisition. Those targets have focused in on Justin Schultz, Tyson Barrie, and Kevin Shattenkirk. Adding a veteran like Schultz to play with Nurse or Kulak does seem like a workable model given their recent productivity. However, it is tough to know exactly if they have more money available to splurge on an upgrade, with the unknown with Kane. The focus is on a top-four defender to play on the right side with Nurse. That will be Bowman’s ultimate challenge going into the 2024-25 campaign for the Edmonton Oilers defence. Let natural, internal competition fight it out for the third-pairing.
Main photo: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
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