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The Oilers management team has a barrage of challenges facing them over the next few months. On their to-do list includes the search for a first-pairing right-shooting defender to pair with Sekera. They've been on that particular quest for a while, pursuing Brent Seabrook and Dougie Hamilton in the off-season, and they are likely to pursue 2016 UFA Dustin Byfuglien. But beyond a big fish there's a lot of house cleaning, renovation and development that needs to happen.
Question marks on defence
The Oilers need to clean-house by buying-out Andrew Ference. Probably the best thing for the player and the team at this point is that he just stop playing. If he gets hurt this season and suffers a major injury, he will be sent to LTIR, and the remaining year of his contract (with $3.25 million cap-hit) will not be eligible for buyout.
The hot mess: the righties
In our preseason roundtable there were some pretty specific predictions about the quality of our defence. Alan Hull wrote:
The Oilers blueline, specifically the right side is not NHL calibre and nothing short of a near-Vezina season from Talbot (or Nilsson) and a supernova rookie season from hockey Jesus will get them to the post season. They lack the ability to move the puck effectively on the back-end and transition it to the forwards in a manner that enables the offence.
Jason Demers
Current team: Dallas Stars
Cap Hit: 2.2 million
Age: 27
NHL GP: 374
Weight: 200 lbs
Height: 6.02
2014-15 dCorsi60: 11.25
Demers is a decent candidate to take-over first-pairing minutes to the right side of Sekera. Although not yet exposed to first-pairing minutes, he appears to have the ability to move the puck like a first-pairing defender while maintaining a balance of defensive and offensive attributes. The defensive balance is something that Sekera needs to his game. Demers is probably worth a major asset
Ryan Ellis
Current team: Nashville Predators
Cap Hit: 2.5 million
Age: 25
NHL GP: 214
Weight: 180 lbs
Height: 5.10
2014-15 dCorsi60: 4.43
Ellis is another defender with first-pairing potential, but yet untested minutes. He has similar attributes to Demers, although is smaller in size.
Robert Bortuzzo
Current team: St. Louis Blues
Cap Hit: 1.05 million
Age: 26
NHL GP: 136
Weight: 215 lbs
Height: 6.04
2014-15 dCorsi60: 13.39
Bortuzzo has been playing third-pairing minutes on average over the past three seasons, but his advanced stats show second-pairing abilities.
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Kevin Klein
Current team: New York Rangers
Cap Hit: 2.9 million
Age: 30
NHL GP: 525
Weight: 202 lbs
Height: 6.01
2014-15 dCorsi60: 1.96
Klein is a well-tested bottom pairing/second pairing defender. He could add some stability to the right side of Klefbom or Davidson. His possession stats are not massively impressive, but he has scoring ability and experience that could be valuable.
Michael Stone
Current team: Arizona Coyotes
Cap Hit: 1.15 million
Age: 25
NHL GP: 218
Weight: 210 lbs
Height: 6.03
2014-15 dCorsi60: -1.41
Stone is an affordable second pairing defender with more than 200 games experience. He should be able to help Klefbom out on the second pair.
Ben Lovejoy
Current team: Pittsburg Penguins
Cap Hit: 2.1 million
Age: 31
NHL GP: 282
Weight: 205 lbs
Height: 6.02
2014-15 dCorsi60: 1.97
Lovejoy is a solid second-paring defender with a reasonable cap-hit and a balanced game. He'd also probably look great next to Kelfbom.
David Savard
Current team: Columbus Blue Jackets
Cap Hit: 1.3 million
Age: 25
NHL GP: 202
Weight: 219 lbs
Height: 6.02
2014-15 dCorsi60: -0.32
Savard is a good option for a solid third-pairing defender to play with Davidson. Currently he appears to be playing too high in the lineup in Colorado Columbus, but still has managed to maintain a reasonable dCorsi. Perhaps overtime he could grow into a second pairing role with solidity.
Andrej Sustr
Current team: Tampa Bay Lightning
Cap Hit: 1.45 million
Age: 24
NHL GP: 131
Weight: 220 lbs
Height: 6.07
2014-15 dCorsi60: 2.57
Sustr is an up and coming defender third-pairing prospect. He's a giant at 6-foot 7-inches. He appears to excel at "stay at home" type play, and with his huge reach he's able to reduce the amount of attempted shots against. If Chiarelli likes big defenders, maybe Sustr is his guy.
David Rundblad
Current team: Chicago Blackhawks
Cap Hit: 1.05 million
Age: 25
NHL GP: 109
Weight: 187 lbs
Height: 6.02
2014-15 dCorsi60: 5.96
HERO chart not available. Runblad is a Swedish prospect half-way into the 200 game mark with a decent delta-Corsi score, reasonable cap-hit for a third-pairing defender who could possibly rise higher.
Greg Pateryn
Current team: Montreal Canadiens
Cap Hit: .562 million
Age: 25
NHL GP: 20
Weight: 223 lbs
Height: 6.02
2014-15 dCorsi60: 7.87
HERO chart not available. Pateryn is Montreal's #4 right-pairing defender after Subban, Petry and Gilbert. Montreal has one of the best defensive line-ups in the league. I'd say trade for Petry or Gilbert, but that just doesn't seem likely. But maybe we can trade for Pateryn, and probably he's a better bottom-pairing defender than Gryba. For the amount of his cap-hit, it's probably worth the gamble.