It looks to me like there are a few defensive corps around the NHL that have a Spencer Stastney-shaped hole in them.

The Anaheim Ducks, for example, have a challenged blueline, minus Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas, John Carlson, and Olen Zellweger from last year’s squad, and tentatively have Tristan Leneau, Tyson Hinds, Ian Moore, and Nick Jensen in their top six defencemen. You’ll remember in the first round of the playoffs how Moore was playing forward.

Now, there might still be some hard feelings amongst Pacific Division rivals, but general manager Stan Bowman shouldn’t hold a grudge. Extend an olive branch to Ducks’ boss Pat Verbeek, who I’m sure has been seething all summer, and still hasn’t signed his other prized forward Cutter Gauthier, likely back to a stingy way of doing business despite Leo Carlsson’s gargantuan contract.

My point being, the Edmonton Oilers have Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Connor Murphy, Jake Walman, Ryan Shea, Ty Emberson, and Shakir Mukhamadullin, who all would rank ahead of Stastney on the depth chart.

Behind him, Alec Regula, Atro Leppanen, and even…..Josh Brown are potential depth chart players after Stastney. Perhaps the likes of Damien Carfagna and Beau Akey take big steps.

Stastney was a stopgap addition to the blueline in the absence of Brett Kulak last season, and is a terrific skater. But once the Oilers returned to health, he didn’t play for the last month and change, last suiting up on March 19 against Florida.

As an RFA, he re-upped with the Oilers in July on a one-year, $1.525 million contract that walks to unrestricted free agency. Perhaps a late bloomer, Stastney hadn’t played more than 23 games in a season until 2025-26. He played 66 games last year. Although developed in Nashville’s system since 2018, they could be convinced a third-round pick was good enough compensation.

With Stastney on the ice at five-on-five, the Oilers controlled 47 per cent of the shot attempt share, 46.9 per cent of the expected goal share and just 38.9 per cent of the actual goal share. The Oilers weren’t scoring with him on the ice, but that improved playing beside Ty Emberson. Together, they outscored the opposition 8-5 for a 61.5 per cent goal share in 225 minutes.

I’m always leery of trading defencemen too soon, especially with how volatile injuries can be, as we saw a year ago. But for the elevated cost of an eighth defenceman, I’m not sure it’s wise to keep him. However, perhaps he’s ready to take on more, earns the trust of Mike Babcock, represents himself well at training camp.

My hunch is the right call is to make a trade.

So, how does a third-round pick sound, Pat?