Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson take pride in their defensive play. Young Colton Dach is physical and plays with energy.

This trio isn’t going to magically transform the Edmonton Oilers into a stout defensive team, but their best attributes are something the Oilers have been lacking this season, and their presence and skill sets should make the Oilers a more competitive team.

The Oilers have as much skill as any team in the NHL. After a sluggish start, which was expected after enduring their second consecutive loss in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers’ offense is the best in the NHL. Over the past 46 games, the Oilers lead the NHL with 3.76 goals/game. Scoring isn’t their issue, but limiting goals is their kryptonite and the arrival of Dickinson and Murphy should help start them on the path to reducing goals against.

The Oilers have been dreadful defensively since a 6-2 loss to Pittsburgh on January 22nd. They’ve allowed a league-high 50 goals in 11 games. They’ve allowed four or more goals in nine of those 11 games. They beat San Jose 4-3 on January 29th and clobbered Los Angeles 8-1 on February 26th. The rest of the games have been a collective masterclass in how not to defend. That must stop now.

The Oilers host Carolina tonight before travelling to face Vegas, Colorado and Dallas. Vegas leads the Pacific division while the other three are first, second and third in the NHL standings. If the Oilers don’t tighten up defensively, it could be an ugly six days. The Oilers know they have to play better defensively, and they are capable of it. They just need to commit to it, and Murphy and Dickinson thrive in the defensive end. Neither was acquired to help out offensively. Of course, they will want to contribute at both ends of the rink, but their major contributions will be limiting the opposition’s scoring chances and goals.

Dickinson’s biggest impact might come in how it will allow Kris Knoblauch to reduce the minutes Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have to play against elite opposition. PuckIQ.com is a great resource to find out who players are playing against.

McDavid has logged 386 minutes (5×5) against elite competition and outscored them 21-15, while Draisaitl has played 334 and outscored them 19-16.

Vasily Podkolzin is third at 312 minutes followed by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (260), Jack Roslovic (247) and Zach Hyman (237).

Dickinson has played 297 minutes against Elite players which equates to 48.4% of his total time on ice (TOI). He was only on for 10 goals against. Dickinson missed 14 games and still played only 38 fewer minutes than Draisaitl has.

In Chicago he was tasked with playing against the other teams’ top lines almost 50% of the time. He won’t be asked to do that in Edmonton, but Kris Knoblauch should use him against top lines, especially on D-zone starts to reduce the stress on McDavid and Draisaitl.

McDavid has played 386 v. Elite, 354 v. Middle and 306 v. Grit lines this season while Draisaitl has logged 334 v. Elite, 332 v. Middle and 298 v. Grit. Knoblauch should be able to reduce that percentage against elite players, not because they can’t play against them, but because if he gives Dickinson six to eight of those shifts/game it will free up McDavid and Draisaitl to play those shifts against lesser competition. If McDavid can get four more shifts a game against a third or fourth line, that is an advantageous mismatch. I know Knoblauch hasn’t gone out of his way to get matchups, but on home ice, he should consider using Dickinson more against opponents’ top lines.

Dickinson, along with Podkolzin and Trent Frederic, has the potential to be a tough, heavy line to play against. If they can forecheck and cycle the puck, and force the top lines to work a bit harder in the defensive zone, then even if Dickinson’s line doesn’t score much, those types of shifts will limit the opposition’s scoring chances and free up McDavid and Draisaitl for a few mismatches.

Murphy is a defence-first player. He spoke about how much pride he takes in shutting down opponents. If you look at Murphy’s overall TOI in Chicago, you’ll wonder why he only played just over 16 minutes a game. It’s because the Blackhawks dressed seven D-men in over half of their games. Murphy can handle 18-19 minutes no problem, and he will start his time as an Oiler paired with Jake Walman. Murphy will want to get pucks to Walman. He’s already spoke about his job is to shut down guys and get the puck to his partner, whether it is Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse or Walman. Murphy can move the puck, but it isn’t his forte. He knows his strengths and weaknesses.

Both Murphy and Dickinson will be on the penalty kill. Look for Murphy to kill with Nurse. Knoblauch mentioned he might start Dickinson with Kapanen, but realistically, Dickinson has to become half of the first PK unit that goes over the boards. He and Murphy were 50% of the Blackhawks’ first penalty kill unit, and Chicago has the best PK in the NHL. There is no reason they shouldn’t be used the same in Edmonton, which has one of the worst penalty kills. Murphy told me the Oilers and Hawks deploy the same PK system. Continuity was the key in Chicago, and the Oilers need to do the same: have the same four guys out to start the PK as often as possible. I get there will be times where you can’t due to how long a player was on the ice prior to the penalty, but the majority of the time Murphy and Dickinson should start the kills.

The rest of the team needs to take the same pride in defending that Dickinson and Murphy do. Defending is more about will than skill, and lately the Oilers’ commitment to defend simply hasn’t been good enough.

— Connor Murphy will wear #5, Jason Dickinson will wear #16 and Colton Dach will wear #34. Murphy will be the 15th Oiler to wear #5, Dickinson will be the 16th to have #16 on his back and Dach will be the 21st player to wear 34. Fun trivia question, do you know the last Oiler to wear #34 without looking it up? Answer at the bottom of article.

— Tonight is the fifth time in 30 years (excluding season-opening games) where the Oilers will have three players make their Oilers debut. The previous four were:

Feb. 25, 2020 – Mike Green, Tyler Ennis and Andreas Athanasiou.

Dec. 31, 2018 – Brandon Manning, Alex Petrovic and Joseph Gambardella.

March 20, 1999 – Ethan Moreau, Chad Kilger and Tommy Salo.

Jan. 7, 1998 – Tony Hrkac, Bill Guerin and Valeri Zelepukin.

— A day later, the Dickinson and Dach trade looks even better in terms of what assets the Oilers had to give up.

COL gave up first and fifth for Roy. No retention.

VGK gave up second and third for Dowd. No retention.

EDM gave up first for Dickenson and Dach, got 50% retention and CHI took Mangiapane’s $3.6m for this season and next.

Roy and Dowd each have one year remaining on their deals at $3m, but Bowman did very well on this trade. The Mangiapane signing was a disaster, but he was able to get out from it without giving up more than other teams did to acquire a third line centre.

— I’m amazed how many people want to call Dach a fringe NHLer. Most who make those claims have never watched him play but will confidently claim he’s bad. I don’t understand it. Dach was a second round pick, 62nd overall in 2021. He’s already played 78 games, which is 17th most in his draft class. His 16 points rank 26th. The fact he’s already in the NHL is a bonus. Of the 61 picks ahead of him 24 of them have played either two, one or zero NHL games thus far. Early on, he’s been a pleasant surprise. I’ve only watched two of his NHL games, so I won’t pretend to have a strong opinion on his play. What he offers is something the Oilers don’t have enough of in their bottom six: He’s a big, physical winger with decent hands in tight. He’s still a work in progress, and I don’t expect him to be a regular in the lineup down the stretch, but he’s a solid prospect. He’s overjoyed to be playing for his hometown team, as he’s from Fort Saskatchewan but grew up an Oilers fan, so this is a dream come true for him. Bowman drafted him in 2021 and knows him well. If he becomes a regular bottom six NHLer that will make the trade look even better, but calling him a fringe NHLer when he is only a rookie is ignorant.

— Now that the trade deadline is over, and I look at who Vegas, Anaheim, Vegas, Dallas and Minnesota added, I think Edmonton and Minnesota improved the most among west teams. Dallas a close third. The Oilers filled two major holes. Now it is up to the Oilers to step up their defensive game heading into playoffs.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers get a boost from their three new players and skate away with a 4-3 victory.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid extends his multi-point game streak to five.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Dickinson picks up a point in his Oilers debut.

*** Trivia answer. Tyler Bunz wore 34 in his only game with the Oilers in 2015.**