One of the more notable aspects of the Edmonton Oilers since Ken Holland departed the organization has been the aggressive tact taken in player acquisition by the new management group.

So while most of us were surprised when the Oilers claimed Boston Bruins defenceman Alec Regula, maybe we should not have been. Given Regula is a young, right-shot defenceman who has a relationship with Stan Bowman, perhaps we should have expected it. Who is Alec Regula? What does Stan Bowman and the Edmonton Oilers see in this player? Let’s roll the tape.

Regula was drafted in the third round by the Detroit Red Wings in 2018. The former London Knight, who was actually paired with Evan Bouchard for some of his time there, is 6’4″ and 212 pounds. So naturally, the immediate focus is skating — and it should be. This will be the issue for Regula in his goal of consistent NHL time. Here is a clip from one of his 22 NHL games in slo-mo.

What we see is a player who lacks an explosive step. He is a strong skater, no question, however, he will not be able to create separation from players, which will limit his ability to skate the puck much at the NHL level.

His skating bleeds a little into his rush defending. He tends to play off attackers to avoid getting beat. That can lead to some very loose gaps that allow players to attack with speed into other parts of the zone. Watch this clip here where Chicago is in good shape coming back.

Regula has one man on the flank, but everyone else is marked. Instead of making an aggressive play to disrupt the attack, Regula backs off and allows the middle of the ice to open up. It results in a goal.

The challenge for Regula coming off a knee injury will be to get up to speed and then improve his footwork off transitions. His size gives him some grace here in that he doesn’t have to make massive improvements. However, he will need some work here.

The one element of Regula’s game which is NHL level is his passing. He has excellent vision and makes quick, accurate passes to teammates. I suspect this is the element of his game other than his size and handedness that makes him intriguing. Take a look at this clip of his play in the offensive zone.

His pass that leads to the goal is an excellent read and he does well to put the pass into a spot where his teammate can skate into it.

Regula also has some very good instincts for the attack. He is very adept at stepping up into the play off the weak side and does it quite well. In some ways, he reminds me of Cody Ceci in this area of the game. Watch this play here as an example. This is not an uncommon tactic for Regula. The play is essentially a 2v2 with there being a race to try and make it a 3v2. Regula does win the race and shows a very nice finish on the goal.

Regula may surprise with the offensive side of his game if he develops some additional foot speed. He has a confident understanding of the game when his team has the puck.

I will not focus a lot on this area because most of Regula’s NHL time was as a raw rookie with a very bad NHL team. However, one aspect that should be noted is Regula’s lack of physicality. It’s not that he won’t get in the battle — it’s that he was losing them a lot which is concerning given his size. Here is a clip that best illustrates this element.

Regula gets beat physically a couple of times here which leads to a goal against. I suspect this will not be a long-term issue for him as he understands his natural advantages over most players. However, in the early days, it will be an element of his game to watch.

Regula to me is a tweener type of player. He could play in a 6/7 role if the skating develops, but he could also be a very good first-pairing defenceman in the AHL. His game has some similarities to Cody Ceci: a big body, right-shot defenceman with skating issues who can lack a physical edge to his game. However, Regula is a better passer than Ceci and he has some good offensive instincts much like Ceci did on occasion.

Coming off a knee injury, I doubt Regula sees much, if any time, with the Oilers before trying to clear waivers as having him get up to speed and develop in the NHL would be an uphill battle. Nevertheless, it was a waiver pick-up that cost the Oilers nothing but a roster spot. The more chances the Oilers take on players like this, the more likely one will develop.

Whether that’s Regula, time will only tell.