So that’s how it’s going to go for the Oilers this year, eh? Adam Larsson gets paired up with Darnell Nurse AND breaks his leg (fractures but who’s counting) in the opening game of the season. But to show us what kind of man he is, the incident happened in the first period and he toughed it out until the end of the game on a fractured leg. Respect!
What you probably didn’t know is that Larsson blocked FOUR shots on that one shift with his skates…
Jesse Puljujarvi Update: Pulju assisted on the game-winning goal last night as Karpat defeated Assat 3-0. He had eight shots, a penalty, and 17 minutes of TOI. Bringing his season totals to a team-leading 7pts in 8gp. Also, he leads the league in shots with 57.
https://twitter.com/TelialovesLiiga/status/1179810708436877312
But now the Oilers are in a bit of a pickle. The one place they couldn’t afford to really lose a guy, and they did. Their best guy. Now the Oilers are left scrambling to try and find a way to replace their hardest defender with 3rd-pair blueliners and/or rookies. This is what we’re looking at,
- Brandon Manning – I’ll say this, if there’s a player that might rival Larsson in the sandpaper department, it’s Manning. He’s just not that good in every other department. Last season, in 20 minutes (basically a game for a top-pairing defender) he had the team’s best advanced analytics vs. the ELITES. His CF% was 54.3% and his DFF% was 63.7%. #SmallSampleSize
- Matt Benning (Elites?) – He was no.2 amongst Oilers defenders last year vs. ELITES. In 214 minutes his CF% was 48% and his DFF% was 50.2%. That’s promising if the plan is to pair him with Darnell Nurse.
- Evan Bouchard – You can’t have him playing top-4 minutes yet. He’d be the best playmaker on the team and a legit threat on the PP, but he needs some seasoning. Throwing him to the wolves would be a mistake.
- Joel Persson – Is he even healthy enough to play? He can move the puck, but can he defend at an adequate level? The jury is still out on him and it’s too soon to make a decision on him.
- William Lagesson – He’s a lefty, so that presents a challenge on its own. But he is built in the same manner as Larsson. They’re both tough as nails.
- Caleb Jones – Had 97 minutes vs. ELITES last year and was okay. CF% was 46.6% and DFF% was 45.4%. He seemed to get caved-in as the season progressed during that stint though.
Stats courtesy of PuckIQ.com
Personally, I don’t think the situation is as dire as it looks. The Oilers schedule this month should help out. They play a lot of games but the opponents are beatable. Who knows? Maybe Larsson can have Connor McDavid do that Mr. Miyagi thing from the Karate Kid movies and he’ll be back at it next week. #Wishin’.
I’m not going to try and get into the guts of the moves Edmonton made this morning. I have enough trouble trying to teach English let alone understand the CBA. For the time being, Ethan Bear and Evan Bouchard have swapped places but only on paper unless something else goes down between now and game day.
Here’s the sense behind the Bear/Bouchard move https://t.co/CmHzxTSRHi
— Dustin Nielson (@nielsonTSN1260) October 3, 2019
Is Making a Trade an Option?
The problem with making a trade here is that Larsson is going to be back in December. So the guy you do trade for, barring further injury, is either going to push a younger player back down the ladder or he’s going to be another Brandon Manning with no place to play. To add to that, are the Oilers looking for someone to play in Larsson’s spot or will they simply spread out the TOI?
- Mark Pysyk (RHD) – Has already been healthy scratched in Florida. $2.7M… Kinda pricey?
- Julius Honka (RHD) – Wants out of Dallas and is unsigned.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (RHD) – The unicorn option ou of BUF that would probably cost A LOT!
- Thomas Hickey (LHD) – Isles had him on waivers. An option if Tippett doesn’t mind moving someone to their off-side.
- Luke Schenn (RHD) – Not a lot of space in Tampa for him. Had a decent season last year in Vancouver.
- Alex Biega (RHD) – Was available on waivers a couple of days ago. Surplus to requirement in Vancouver. A better version of Benning in my opinion.
See, the only player that could outright replace Larsson is Ristolainen and are you willing to pay the price it’d cost to bring him in? My feeling is that they’d be looking for a top-6 center or a package that would probably include Jesse Puljujarvi AND one of the Oilers blue-chip defenders like Evan Bouchard or Dmitri Samorukov. Everybody else on that list could be had for a pick or prospect I reckon and you could probably bury him when Larsson returned. Ideally, you’d want to move out Brandon Manning in any trade, but beggars can’t be choosers.
How I’d Do It
If I’m the coach, I think I would run the defense versus LA thusly,
Klefbom/Bear
Nurse/Benning
Russell/Manning
Persson
I’d also be starting Mike Smith again. The way he saves wear and tear on his defenseman just by being able to stop the dump-ins and making passes is incredible.
Man, is Darnell Nurse going to earn his pay this year or what?
I’m not sure what the status of Joel Persson is. If he’s JUST getting back to health, I don’t like the idea of giving him big minutes right away. However, I am encouraged with Ethan Bear’s start to the year and trust in his ability to get the puck moving North instead of spending time defending his own zone. I can shelter Manning on the 3rd pairing as well.
Something else they could do is go with seven dmen and just rotate Manning and Persson when needed. Unless the plan is to play Gaetan Haas for more than two minutes, scratch him and unleash the three-headed monster for a game.
Keep the kids in Bakersfield. Their first game is this weekend and they’ve been preparing for it for some time now. One game against the Kings isn’t going to dictate how this year is going to go for the Oilers.
How would you run the defense? Would you make a trade to fill that hole? Let us know in the comments below!
