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The Blues Magoos (Bloody Well Right)
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Photo credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Lowetide
Aug 25, 2017, 20:22 EDTUpdated: May 18, 2018, 15:39 EDT
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On the final night of the 2015-16 season, the Edmonton Oilers deployed Mark Fayne (18:43), Griffin Reinhart (18:27) and Adam Pardy (16:06) (Source) and we all knew there would be changes. Peter Chiarelli turned over the entire right hand side for 2016-17, bringing in Adam Larsson, Kris Russell and Matt Benning.
It was a successful transfusion, but injury on LHD (Andrej Sekera) may force more triage at the position in 2017-18. Here’s how things look entering camp.
  1. Adam Larsson. Larsson helped calm the waters defensively and provided the defensive conscience for the top pairing with fellow Swede Oscar Klefbom. The team had a successful season and Larsson was on the top pairing, hard to write a better script for the newcomer, who arrived under difficult circumstances.
  2. Kris Russell. He had a strong first-half of the season, with the fancy stats implying he was running luck in a big way. Regressed in the second half but coach Todd McLellan ran the hell out of him and clearly trusts the veteran. I can’t get anyone to agree anymore on the percentage improvement we might see if Russell plays LH side, but all agree it will benefit him. He may get some time on his handed side while Andrej Sekera is out with his maladies.
  3. Matt Benning. For me, Benning is the most likely choice to move into that second pairing situation while Sekera is out. Last season, Benning played 306 minutes with Andrej Sekera (55 percent Corsi for percentage), 246 minutes with Darnell Nurse (50.1) and 131 minutes with Oscar Klefbom (54.1). Playing over 450 minutes with Sekera and Klefbom suggests to me Todd McLellan was more than willing to elevate the rookie one season ago. Young players rarely develop in a straight line, but the youngster may be counted on in a more prominent role early in the season.
  4. Eric Gryba. The big man played half of the regular season and three games during the postseason. He’s Todd McLellan’s choice as No. 7 defender, we know that because Edmonton signed him to a two-year deal just before the window for free agency opened. The organization likes him, but do they want him to play every night? That answer should inform us in regard to which youngster plays with Kris Russell on the second pairing.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

I’d sign Cody Franson, have been saying it all along and few agree with me. Franson to Edmonton is extremely unlikely to happen, so we’re left with two unhappy options:
  • Splitting up the Swedish top pair, possibly running Klefbom-Russell/Benning and Nurse-Larsson.
  • Running a second pairing of either Nurse-Russell or Russell-Benning.
Based on usage in 2016-17, I’ll guess Todd McLellan keeps the Swedes on the top pairing and runs Russell-Benning on the second pair. That leaves Nurse-Gryba as the third pair and possibly Yohann Auvitu as the extra man. Up next: The goalies.

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