Edmonton Oilers add Mark Fistric via trade

The Edmonton Oilers actually added two defencemen to their training camp roster today. The big news was the acquisition of hometown defender Mark Fistric from Dallas for a third round pick; the smaller news was the recall of Taylor Fedun from Oklahoma City.

A reasonable Oilers’ blue line depth chart likely looks like this:

The middle two pairings are flexible – I can see the merits of a Nick Schultz/Ryan Whitney second pairing or a Ryan Whitney/Justin Schultz second pairing, too.

Right now, of course, Theo Peckham isn’t really in the conversation. According to the Oilers, he "aggravated a hip flexor." The Oilers will know that Fistric is healthy entering camp – their deal with Dallas is dependent on Fistric first passing a medical exam. Meanwhile, Fedun is only around for training camp:

Fistric, a rough-and-tumble third-pairing defender, is a necessary addition to an Oilers blue line missing both Peckham and Andy Sutton; he’s a player in the same mold and given his age and past NHL seasons can arguably be expected to perform better than either of the guys he’s replacing. Additionally, he has FISTric right in his name, which is bound to please the comments section here at Oilers Nation.

He’s also likely to feature in a few highlight reel hits that will similarly please Edmonton fans: