On paper, this group of six on the backend looks slightly worse than it did a year ago. After Philip Broberg’s showing in Rounds 3 and 4 last season, I was hopeful that he’d change his feelings about staying with the Oilers. The offer sheet signed with the St. Louis Blues proved my hope wrong. Just before that seven-day match period was over, Cody Ceci was traded for cap relief. Replacing them is a prospect with fewer games played than Broberg on a draft lottery team and a whole bunch of extras currently auditioning for the #6 or #7 spots. Last week, I wrote an article listing my own projection for Edmonton’s forward lines. But that was always going to be easier to think up. I decided this week to just throw darts at a wall while blindfolded. I’m not saying I think this should be the pairings all season long, just maybe try the first couple of games with them. If it’s not like that, and they win more games than lose, you can all revisit this article and laugh at me. They could also look into the Trade Deadline and see about any available options. I won’t write about the goaltending because we don’t have to guess what that position will look like. Without further ado, my projected defense pairings are…
Brett Kulak/Evan Bouchard
Can Kulak handle that much ice time? I don’t know. But being the type of player he is, you almost never notice him, and that’s a good thing for defensemen. His role as a defense-first blueliner differs from Bouchard’s offensive talents. If more is always expected out of Bouchard, I don’t think there’d be any added stress on Kulak here. Again, can he manage greater minutes? I know taking Mattias Ekholm off of this pairing feels like a stretch, as it’s been an elite pairing since it was put together. But hear me out on the next pairing.
Darnell Nurse/Mattias Ekholm
More than one thing can be true at the same time. Nurse is overpaid by $4M and having him play to the standards of his contract is an impossible ask. He’s also not leaving Edmonton anytime soon, so stop wishing for it on social media. The calls for him to be traded aren’t like Beetlejuice, it won’t happen just because people keep posting about it. That being said, the need for a good enough partner to help calm him down is the worst-kept secret in Alberta. Ekholm was exactly the type of defenseman the Oilers needed when he was acquired and was unanimously Ken Holland’s best trade during his GM tenure in Edmonton. Maybe he can do for Nurse what he did for Bouchard. If he does, there should be a statue of him beside Wayne Gretzky’s outside Rogers Place.
Ty Emberson/Troy Stecher
Both of them are right-handed, I have no idea if one of them can play either side. A lot of people have pinned Emberson to the second pairing with Nurse, but I haven’t seen enough of him to agree. I don’t want to JUST agree without watching him play regularly. I only watched him a little bit in Edmonton’s first preseason game, but YouTube channels keep losing their livestreams. Nurse has also been missing preseason with injuries, so we haven’t even experimented them together yet. Stecher is the journeyman veteran here; we knew this would be his spot. Travis Dermott signed a PTO and is left-handed, he could have this spot instead because of that. So is Josh Brown, but I’ve read unkind reviews about his play in preseason. Emberson is the wild card defining all three pairings. I’m not ruling out that any potential future minutes with Nurse could be like Broberg’s against the Stars and Panthers. If it really is ready for them, he will forever be remembered as the trade that saved Nurse from Cody Ceci. I’m just waiting to see it before I believe it, and will have him on this pairing for now. It’ll be great if he proves me wrong, I welcome it. Someone, please help Darnell Nurse.
Do you agree with these pairings? Do you not? Let me know.
ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again – Inside The Rink
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