Bob Stauffer believes the Edmonton Oilers still have another forward move in them, and he thinks the fit is pretty clear: size, strength and a little more bite for the bottom of the lineup.
Speaking on Sunday’s broadcast, Stauffer said the Oilers are already leaning into a more deliberate style and aren’t finished shaping the roster. “The reality is they are playing a very specific style.
They have become more of a cycling team, way less reliant off the rush. I don’t believe Stan Bowman and Mike Babcock are done building this team.
We know Dach’s going to factor into the top nine. We know they’re going to get Zach Hyman back.
We know they’re going to get the relentless puck pursuit of a guy like Matt Savoie, who DJ Smith is going to love as a penalty killer because of the style PK Edmonton is going to be deploying here, and you know Savoie can go get it. And I still think they’re going to add one more forward into the mix at some point that’s got some size that can allow them to ground and pound, especially the lines three through four.”
That idea fits the way Babcock appears to want this team to play. The Oilers are being pushed toward a hard, physical, low-to-high style - dump it in, battle for it, work the puck down low, and keep a forward high to guard against odd-man rushes the other way.
Last season, the conversation around this time of year was also about adding another forward. By the trade deadline, though, the priority had shifted to the blue line, and Bowman filled that need by bringing in Chicago’s Connor Murphy.
This time, the same pattern could repeat, only with a different ending. The bigger issue may not be another forward at all, but a puck-moving right-shot defenseman.
If Edmonton wants to win the Cup while playing safe, smart and physical hockey, it also has to handle teams that play that same way - Carolina is the example here. The Hurricanes have six defensemen who can move the puck.
Edmonton does not.
That gap matters because the Oilers will be facing structured, relentless forechecking from top playoff opponents, and they need another defender who can help them break that pressure. Evan Bouchard may be the best puckmover in the NHL right now, but he can’t handle every shift.
On the right side, Edmonton currently has Connor Murphy and Ty Emberson, two NHL defensemen who bring a rugged, smart, positionally sound game. Neither, though, is considered an above-average puckmover by NHL standards. One of them, likely Emberson, would end up as the team’s seventh or eighth defenseman in the playoffs.
There’s also the possibility of trying left-shot defenders Damien Carfagna or Tomas Cibulka on the right side. Both are strong AHL defenders and may be ready for a bigger role. If Edmonton wants to know what it really needs, that kind of experiment should happen sooner rather than later.
Bowman’s deadline work last year also showed he’s willing to address more than one hole at once. He added checking center Jason Dickinson and power forward Colton Dach, who had fallen out of favor in the Chicago organization. That leaves open the possibility that he could again make multiple moves - one for a puck-moving right-shot defenseman and another for a strong third- or fourth-line winger who can bring the “ground and pound” style Stauffer described.
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