Everybody wants something for Christmas.
I woke up yesterday and opened my presents slightly hungover. Most of the things I asked for were from Santa Claus and my family. However, there are several things I wanted from the Edmonton Oilers that weren’t under the tree. That’s okay though, as the National Hockey League’s version of Christmas falls on March 7 this season — trade deadline day.
As it stands, the Oilers have a 21-11-2 record, second in the Pacific Division and five points behind the Vegas Golden Knights with the same number of games played. The Oilers have been terrific as of late, but they can always get better.
Here are the needs I see the Oilers having when the trade deadline rolls around in a couple of months.
Second-pairing defenceman
Out of any area the Oilers need to improve on, it’s to get a veteran defender who can play the puck to play alongside Darnell Nurse. Now, that can either be a right-shot defenceman or a left-shot defenceman who can play the right shot, but this is the biggest need for the team.
Nurse has been terrific this season, scoring three goals and 15 points in 31 games while playing some solid defence. After the Ty Emberson experiment failed, the Oilers have played Troy Stecher alongside Nurse, and sometimes Brett Kulak on his off-hand. Both those players have helped Nurse play to his $9.25 million contract.
However, imagine if the Oilers traded for someone like Calgary Flames’ right-shot defenceman Rasmus Andersson, or Montréal Canadiens’ left-shot defenceman Mike Matheson. Nurse would have somewhat of an equal to play alongside him while allowing Kulak to play alongside Emberson in what would be one of the better third pairings in the league.