Kevin Lowe Peter Chiarelli making moves! The Oilers have acquired defenseman Chris Wideman — nope, not Dennis Wideman — from the Ottawa Senators for the very reasonable price of a 2020 conditional sixth-round draft pick. That pick sent to Ottawa was the one the Oilers got in exchange for Jakub Jerabek. Remember him?

What do we know about Wideman? Well, he’s a right-handed defenceman who was drafted by the Sens in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL draft. He’s played in 175 games for Ottawa over parts over four seasons and has put up 43 points. Though he hasn’t really put up points at the NHL level, he’s an offensive-minded defenseman who makes a good pass and can be effective on the power play. An issue for Wideman is that he was trapped behind Erik Karlsson in an offensive role on the Sens.

We also know he was in the front seat for the infamous Uber ride in Ottawa.

This gives Edmonton another righty defenceman to play on the bottom pairing. As of right now, the team is operating with Klefbom and Larsson as their top pair, Darnell Nurse and Kris Russell on the second pair, and Kevin Gravel and Matt Benning on the third. Wideman can push Benning for ice time and likely see some power play time on the second unit.

Another thing worth mentioning, this doesn’t bode well for Ethan Bear. We all assumed that Bear would get a recall as soon as Evan Bouchard went back to the OHL, but it hasn’t happened. Acquiring an offensive-minded righty likely means the Oilers don’t believe Bear is ready to help the team this year.

Edmonton will now have to make a decision as to which defenceman, Jason Garrison or Kevin Gravel, remains on the roster unless they want to carry eight defenders.