The Edmonton Oilers may be looking to bring in another defenceman.
In an article for The Athletic, Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston wrote about a handful of veteran defencemen who still aren’t signed — Mark Giordano, John Klingberg, Justin Schultz, and Kevin Shattenkirk.
There were two defencemen in the article linked to the Oilers, most notably Shattenkirk. Found below is what was written about the right-shot defenceman:
“His camp, led by agent Jordan Neumann, remains in constant communication with several teams, having in-depth conversations about his client’s potential fit. It’s believed the Edmonton Oilers are among the teams that have talked to them.”
Of any aspect of the 2024-25 Oilers, defence remains the most questionable. Following a 6-0 defeat in the season opener against the Winnipeg Jets, the second pairing of Darnell Nurse and Ty Emberson was carved up.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Edmonton Oilers on 2024-10-09:#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/VccQeP1Rig
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 10, 2024
Does Shattenkirk fix the issue? Probably not, but he could be a great stopgap for the time being. The right-shot defenceman is 35 and at the tail-end of his career, though last season, he scored six goals and 24 points in 61 games for the Boston Bruins. Moreover, he’s played 91 postseason games and won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2020 playoffs.
If or when (hopefully when) the Oilers add a second-pairing right-shot defenceman, Shattenkirk can play third-pairing minutes alongside Brett Kulak, similar to his role with the Bruins in 2023-24.
In the same article, LeBrun and Johnston wrote about Mark Giordano, noting that the Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Carolina Hurricanes, and New York Rangers are seen by Giordano as good landing spots to try to win his first Stanley Cup.
Much like with Shattenkirk, the Oilers have kept tabs on Giordano, with his agent saying in early September he spoke to the team. Now 41 years old, Giordano spent the 2023-24 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a seventh defenceman, scoring three goals and nine points in 46 games.
Across his career, he has 158 goals and 419 points in 1,148 games with the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, and the Maple Leafs. The majority of that time was spent with the Flames, spending 15 seasons with the Oilers’ provincial rival, including winning the Norris Trophy in 2018-19 when he scored 17 goals and 74 points.
He was the Seattle Kraken’s first captain before departing during the 2021-22 season thanks to a mid-season trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since then, Giordano has spent two additional seasons with the Maple Leafs, scoring four goals and 24 points in 78 games during the 2022-23 season.
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