It’s no secret that the Edmonton Oilers need a defenceman.
In the off-season, they lost Vincent Desharnais as he signed with the Vancouver Canucks early in free agency. Philip Broberg was given an offer sheet and the Oilers didn’t match, which was after the Oilers traded Cody Ceci to the San Jose Sharks.
They received Ty Emberson for Ceci, a nice low-risk, high-reward type of acquisition, but there’s a clear hole for a top-four right-shot defenceman. Thanks to Evander Kane on the long-term injured reserve, the Oilers will have a ton of cap space come the trade deadline.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was speaking on Edmonton Sports Talk on Tuesday and noted that the Oilers are being aggressive in attempting to find a player who can play in their top four. Of course, they aren’t the only team to do so, as the Vancouver Canucks are looking for a puck-moving defenceman, while the Utah Hockey Club has lost two key defencemen thanks to month-to-month injuries.
Starting with the Canucks, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that they’re looking for a puck-moving defenceman on the Halford and Brough Show on Wednesday. However, he noted that Calgary Flame defenceman Rasmus Andersson isn’t going anywhere for the time being. Moreover, Seravalli said “[the Flames] purposefully tried to quiet the noise there” and that Andersson wants to play for Calgary.
The Utah Hockey Club could be another team interested in adding to their defence core. On Tuesday evening, the Detroit Red Wings traded Olli Määttä to Utah for a third-round pick in the 2025 draft. Määttä is a good comparison to Brett Kulak, a steady third-pairing d-man that you only notice when he scores a goal or two. Still, with the loss of Sean Durzi and former Oilers prospect John Marino, the right side of their defence needs improvement.
While the cost of defence is more compared to say at the trade deadline, the Määttä move isn’t the only recent trade involving a defenceman. On Wednesday afternoon, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Timothy Liljegren to the San Jose Sharks for former Oiler Matt Benning, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2026 sixth-round pick.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Oilers play without McDavid, but defence is a must-improve no matter what happens this season.
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