Oilers trade deadline preview: Cup contenders must address defensive woes

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have been the National Hockey League’s second-best team for two years running. They’ve played the second-most playoff games in the last five seasons.

In the middle of their Stanley Cup window, there can be no question as to where general manager Stan Bowman stands heading into Friday’s trade deadline.

“We want to win. That hasn’t changed,” Bowman said Monday, not surprisingly.

But, he warned, bringing in a couple of new players won’t solve what really troubles this team right now: “We haven’t played well defensively as a team … goaltending, defence and forwards.”

Bowman added right-shot defenceman Connor Murphy to his team in a trade with Chicago on Monday for a 2028 second-round pick. Murphy, a big defensive D-man, was the first guy over the boards on the league’s best penalty-killing unit in Chicago this season. The Blackhawks retained half of his $4.4 million cap hit.

Murphy will slot in next to Darnell Nurse on the second pairing in Edmonton, a duo of six-foot-four, 212ish-pound defencemen with more than 775 games of NHL experience.

That alone will not assuage the Oilers’ defensive shortcomings, however.

“There has to be a better, bigger commitment from our players — all of our players — to play smarter hockey and not trying to make plays every shift,” Bowman said. “Maybe it’s having more respect for the game, the simplicity of the game. We want to put on a show … but there are two sides to it. We haven’t managed that very well.

“The way to fix that, it’s not going to be magical new players,” Bowman warned. “It’s going to be the approach that we take as a team. Understanding that going through a whole period without getting a lot of scoring chances is OK, if you don’t give up a lot.”

Projected deadline cap space: $200,000
Contracts: 47/50
Retention slots open: 3/3
Draft picks (via PuckPedia):

Needs

The disaster of a trade that was Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry also cost the Oilers trusty defenceman Brett Kulak, who was smartly snapped up by Western Conference foe Colorado last week.

Adding Murphy drops Jake Walman back to his natural left side on the third pairing, and upgrades a D corps that should be much more than it has shown this season, if history tells us anything. This team has 20 games to find its defensive posture, and Murphy will be part of that for sure.

Up front, Edmonton’s greatest need is that prototypical third-line centre: a guy who can win faceoffs, kill a penalty and provide a modicum of offence at five-on-five while matching up against the opponent’s top players once in a while. That would push 36-year-old Adam Henrique down to 4C, which suits his game more favourably after having logged 1,000 games in the NHL.

The Oilers could always use an upgrade in goal — this is Edmonton, after all — but we’d be mighty surprised if a team with this little capital could scratch that itch as well at the deadline.

Assets to trade

Like any Cup contender, Edmonton’s cupboards grow increasingly bare each year. But give Bowman some credit here: he’s managed to add younger players like Vasily Podkolzin, Matt Savoie, Josh Samanski, Ty Emberson and Ike Howard along the way, keeping his average age at 28.5 years, right in the middle of the NHL pack.

They’d move six-foot-four right-shot defenceman Alec Regula — who cleared waivers Monday — in the right deal, and likely Howard as well.

Andrew Mangiapane simply must move in any further deal to open up the cap space required to bring a new player in. It will cost Bowman an extra draft pick or a better prospect, the price for a misguided July 1 from which the Oilers GM must rescue himself and his team.

Howard is likely their most appealing prospect who is playing pro right now, a winger who can score. He’s 21 and has 14 goals and 32 points in 30 games at AHL Bakersfield, better than decent for a first-year pro.

Bowman envisions Howard as a top-six winger who could finish for Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid one day soon. But the Oilers are firmly in win-now territory and will move off of Howard if required.

Potential targets

Boone Jenner: This would be the Cadillac of moves for Edmonton, a character centre with good size and decent hands. If Jenner is your third-line centre, you’re doing OK.

Scott Laughton: He’s a pending UFA who makes just $1.5 million. If the Leafs retained half, that deal could work.

Bobby McMann: Another pending UFA from Toronto, he’s an affordable winger who could add some size and speed.

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