Throughout the month, the NHL is announcing “Quarter Century” all-star-style teams for all 32 of their franchises. The Oilers lineup will be one of the final ones revealed when it gets dropped on January 30th, but in the meantime, I thought I would take a stab at going through the exercise and trying to guess who could be on the Oilers team.
Yesterday I looked at who the forwards could be and today, things get a little bit more difficult as I look at which defensemen deserve the honour.
I’ll be totally honest, I’m not sure if there even is one stone-cold lock like there is with the forwards and McDavid and Draisaitl.
The one who is probably closest is Evan Bouchard and I know there are going to be some people who are rolling their eyes reading that, but the numbers do back it up. He’s pretty low down the list when it comes to games played since 2000, ranking 10th, but there are some very average defensemen ahead of him on that list thanks to the Decade of Darkness.
He is third in points per game in the regular season, behind Chris Pronger and Tyson Barrie. His playoff numbers stand out, though. He’s produced 58 points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his time with Edmonton which is 37 more than any other defenseman.
His playoff success and the fact that he’s a homegrown talent make him a pretty good pick to be one of the two defensemen on the first team.
Chris Pronger’s case is interesting because there is no doubt who is the best defenseman to wear an Oilers jersey in the last 25 years. But he only played in 80 regular season games and while the playoff run was amazing, Pronger’s reputation is more closely tied to how he excited the city that summer versus how important he was to the team in the spring.
I think the public perception likely keeps Pronger off either team.
If we’re talking purely based on longevity, then Darnell Nurse has a very good case. No Oilers has appeared in more regular season and playoff games since 2000 than Nurse. He was drafted and developed by the organization and while his struggles over the last few seasons have changed the way that the fan base views him, he was their best defenseman during their run to the conference finals a few years back.
Nurse and Bouchard would both be fine picks for the top team, but I feel like the voters will want to give some sort of nod to the past and the early 2000s.
If that is the case, then I think Jason Smith is the guy.
He wore the ‘C’ for the Oilers when they went on their run to the finals in 2006 and he was a major contributor. At 450 games, he sits fourth in games played since 2000. Obviously the offensive production doesn’t like up with Bouchard, or even Nurse for that matter, but he was a fan favourite, played a shutdown style of defence and he checks the boxes of longevity and some form of playoff success.
If Pronger is going to be excluded, then there still needs to be one more defenseman on the team.
Mattias Ekholm would be a very good choice, but the longevity isn’t quite there. Still, two playoff runs carries some weight and he played a significant role in their run to the final last spring. Still, should he be on the quarter century team if he hasn’t even played 200 games with the organization?
Still, there aren’t a lot of great options.
Steve Staios was never a star player, but he spent a lot of time in the city and was a part of that run in 2006. I don’t think he was a good enough player to get this kind of honour, but he deserves some love since we’re having the conversation.
Tom Gilbert is kind of the same. He played here for a long time and had to live through a very tough era. The fact he was never on a good team though keeps him out of the mix.
The other name that stands out is Oscar Klefbom. A homegrown talent who had his career cut way too short due to injury. He played a crucial role in ending the decade of darkness and scored a massive goal against San Jose in that first-round series in 2017. The offensive numbers are tremendous, he was a very fun player to watch, he played in 378 games (ranks sixth) and had the fourth most points among the defensemen we’re looking at.
The more you think about it, the better of a pick he becomes. With that said, here is my official prediction:
FIRST TEAM – Evan Bouchard and Jason Smith
SECOND TEAM – Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom
