LOOKING AHEAD: CHANGING THE BLUELINE
By Jason Gregor
10 years ago
This is what the Oilers blueline and depth chart looked like at the start of the season. It looks even worse now with the trade of Ladislav Smid, but it is obvious that the Oilers D corps will look significantly different at the start of next season. Nick Schultz, Corey Potter, Anton Belov and Denis Grebeshkov are unrestricted free agents, and Belov is the only one they might re-sign.
Jeff Petry, Justin Schultz, Taylor Fedun and Philip Larsen are restricted free agents. The first three will likely be re-signed, while Larsen should be let go.
How will Craig MacTavish re-build his blueline, and who should he be looking to sign?
We can all agree the Oilers need a top-pairing D-man, but the only way to get one is through free agency, or by trading one of the four skilled forwards.
We can all agree the Oilers need a top-pairing D-man, but the only way to get one is through free agency, or by trading one of the four skilled forwards.
Here is the list of the top 45 pending UFAs. Many of these guys will sign with their teams before July, so the list will be shorter, but it will give you an idea of who is available in free agency. I listed them by age.
| Player | Team | Age | Cap Hit |
| Bouillon, Francis | MTL | 38 | $1,500,000 |
| Mitchell, Willie | LAK | 36 | $3,500,000 |
| Robidas, Stephane | DAL | 36 | $3,300,000 |
| Markov, Andrei | MTL | 34 | $5,750,000 |
| Phillips, Chris | OTT | 35 | $3,083,333 |
| Morris, Derek | PHX | 35 | $2,750,000 |
| Sarich, Cory | COL | 35 | $2,000,000 |
| Weaver, Mike | FLA | 35 | $1,100,000 |
| Tallinder, Henrik | BUF | 34 | $3,375,000 |
| Orpik, Brooks | PIT | 33 | $3,750,000 |
| Hainsey, Ron | CAR | 32 | $2,000,000 |
| Alberts, Andrew | VAN | 32 | $600,000 |
| Klesla, Rostislav | PHX | 31 | $2,975,000 |
| Komisarek, Mike | CAR | 31 | $700,000 |
| Guenin, Nate | COL | 31 | $600,000 |
| Engelland, Deryk | PIT | 31 | $566,667 |
| Pitkanen, Joni | CAR | 30 | $4,500,000 |
| Greene, Matt | LAK | 30 | $2,950,000 |
| Gilbert, Tom | FLA | 30 | $900,000 |
| Colaiacovo, Carlo | STL | 30 | $750,000 |
| Girardi, Dan | NYR | 29 | $3,325,000 |
| Stuart, Mark | WPG | 29 | $1,700,000 |
| Ranger, Paul | TOR | 29 | $1,000,000 |
| Benoit, Andre | COL | 29 | $900,000 |
| Smith, Derek | CGY | 29 | $775,000 |
| Sulzer, Alexander | BUF | 29 | $725,000 |
| Strachan, Tyson | WAS | 29 | $550,000 |
| Phaneuf, Dion | TOR | 28 | $6,500,000 |
| Meszaros, Andrej | PHI | 28 | $4,000,000 |
| Quincey, Kyle | DET | 28 | $3,775,000 |
| Stoner, Clayton | MIN | 28 | $1,050,000 |
| Kostka, Mike | CHI | 28 | $625,000 |
| Niskanen, Matt | PIT | 27 | $2,300,000 |
| Nikitin, Nikita | CLB | 27 | $2,150,000 |
| Butler, Chris | CGY | 27 | $1,700,000 |
| Stralman, Anton | NYR | 27 | $1,700,000 |
| Fraser, Mark | TOR | 27 | $1,275,000 |
| Diaz, Raphael | MTL | 27 | $1,225,000 |
| Fistric, Mark | ANA | 27 | $900,000 |
| Prosser, Nate | MIN | 27 | $825,000 |
| Schultz, Jeff | LAK | 27 | $700,000 |
| MacDonald, Andrew | NYI | 27 | $550,000 |
| Russell, Kris | CGY | 26 | $1,500,000 |
| Fayne, Mark | NJD | 26 | $1,300,000 |
The five players in bold are playing top pairing minutes currently, however Markov, Phaneuf and Girardi are the only three I’d consider top pairing D-men. Tom Gilbert and Andrew MacDonald play lots of minutes on bad teams just like Petry in Edmonton. The Oilers can’t sign Gilbert when they already have J.Schultz and Petry on the right side. They are all similar players. The Oilers need to diversify their blueline. They won’t win with three non-physical right-handed D-men.
Phaneuf is the best UFA option. If he doesn’t re-sign in Toronto he will get at least $7 mill/year for seven years. Phaneuf isn’t a top-10 D-man in the league, but he is a legitimate first pair defender. If he is available, the Oilers will try and sign him.
Girardi is a very good #2 D-man. He doesn’t bring any offence, so he can’t be a true #1, but he is solid in his own zone.
Markov is turns 35 on Friday, and if he tests the free agent waters, I’m sure he will sign with a contending team. He only has a few years left to win a Stanley Cup.
MacDonald plays 26:16/game, but many in New York feel is he likely a #3 on a good team. He isn’t very big or physical, but he’d be a major upgrade on N.Schultz, Potter or Larsen. He likely will get a deal worth $3.5-$4.5 million if he chooses the free agent route.
The odds of landing a top-pair D-man via free agency are slim, considering Phaneuf and Girardi are the only options, so MacTavish likely has to look at a trade to facilitate that position.
The names that some feel might be available include Tyler Myers, Zach Bogosian and Alex Edler. There would be others, depending on what or who MacTavish offers up in a trade, but if they do acquire a top pairing defender it will cost them one of Jordan Eberle or Nail Yakupov and possibly something more. ( I don’t see them moving Hall or RNH).
OTHER OPTIONS…
There are some other names on the aforementioned list that would help the Oilers. They desperately need a big, strong defender like Matt Greene or Brooks Orpik. I doubt those two make it to free agency, but if the Oilers need to find a player similar to those two. They need some size in their bottom two pairings.
The Oilers might look at signing a veteran for to a one or two year deal, just so they don’t have to rush Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom or Martin Marincin and play them more minutes than they are capable of handling.
Players like Derek Morris, Paul Ranger or Mark Stuart could be good stop gaps until those kids are ready to play more minutes.
You will notice that there are very few big, heavy D-men available. It is hard to find big D-men who are quick enough and savvy enough to play sound defensively and not get exposed by speedy forwards. The Oilers desperately need some size and strength on their backend, and while Nurse and Klefbom are big it would be asking a lot for a 19 and 20 year old to play significant minutes against men.
MacTavish needs to add a top-pairing D-man, but he’ll also need to find at least three new D-men for next season. This isn’t impossible. The Colorado Avalanche completely changed their blueline over the summer, and they are a much better team because of it.
Here is who they used last year, and who they are using this season.
2013
| Player | GP | G | A | P | +/- | TOI/G |
| Tyson Barrie | 32 | 2 | 11 | 13 | -11 | 21:34 |
| Matt Hunwick | 43 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 21:31 |
| Erik Johnson | 31 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -3 | 20:45 |
| Jan Hejda | 46 | 1 | 9 | 10 | -3 | 19:41 |
| Greg Zanon | 44 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -16 | 19:19 |
| Ryan O’Byrne | 34 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -8 | 18:51 |
| Ryan Wilson | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 18:30 |
| Stefan Elliott | 18 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 17:30 |
| Shane O’Brien | 28 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 15:30 |
2013/2014
| Player | GP | G | A | P | +/- | TOI/G |
| Erik Johnson | 33 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 22:21 |
| Jan Hejda | 29 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 22:13 |
| Andre Benoit | 32 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 20:42 |
| Nate Guenin | 32 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -2 | 18:31 |
| Cory Sarich | 31 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 17:49 |
| Matt Hunwick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17:27 |
| Tyson Barrie | 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 17:25 |
| Ryan Wilson | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 16:48 |
| Nick Holden | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 16:38 |
Johnson and Hejda are their top pair, which begs the question why Matt Hunwick and Tyson Barrie played more than them last season? Pretty easy to say Joe Sacco wasn’t using the right guys.
The Avs have added Andre Benoit, Nate Guenin and Cory Sarich in place of Greg Zaone, Ryan O’Byrne and Hunwick. Barrie is now their #6 D-man, while Hunwick is in the American League.
The Avs weren’t afraid to change their roster, and they didn’t guarantee guys like Hunwick and Barrie jobs just because they played significant minutes last season. They went out and re-tooled their blueline. They didn’t add big name players, but they got better players and their team is better because of if.
WRAP UP
It is painfully obvious that the Oilers need to improve their backend. Nick Schultz will be traded at the deadline, and the Oilers should say goodbye to Potter and Larsen. Belov’s play has regressed and unless he has a solid second half, I wouldn’t bring him back either.
MacTavish should be instructing his scouts to watch these UFAs closely, and find out which ones will help the Oilers improve. He has to improve his blueline over the summer, and the organization can’t expect those spots to be filled with rookies. If they do, then the Oilers are in for another long season next year as well.
Do any of those name appeal to you? If so, who and why.
DAY 14…MONTH OF GIVING
Darrell bid $5,000 on our Eskimos dinner at Vons Steakhouse yesterday bringing our monthly total up to $53, 950. Awesome.
Today’s packages include…
Package #1:
- A $1,000 Easton Hockey shopping spree at United Cycle.
- Pair of club seats (sec 120, row 15) for Oilers vs. Canucks on January 21st.
Package #2:
- A signed Taylor Hall jersey courtesy of United Cycle.
Package #3:
- A Party for 10 at the Druid Irish Pub. Includes food and four drinks for each person.
- Two tickets to an exclusive Hot Stove with Jordan Eberle on January 22nd, hosted by ATB Financial. A great place to take your son or daughter to meet Eberle. Includes appetizers and food.
You can bid by calling 780.444.1260 or 1.800.243.1945 between 2-6 p.m. today.
Thanks in advance. All proceeds go to Santas Anonymous.
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