The Oilers’ penalty kill is about to get a very different look, and D.J. Smith is the guy who could make it work.
That’s the real takeaway here. Not the noise around coaching styles, not the old-school mind games, not the idea that some bench bosses need to dominate the room.
Smith fits what Edmonton needs because the Oilers don’t need theatrics right now. They need structure, clarity, and a unit that knows exactly what its job is every shift.
Smith has already shown he can handle that side of the game. He ran the penalty kill in Los Angeles, and he handled the same job for Team Canada at the recent World Championships. That matters because one of Edmonton’s clearest areas for improvement is the penalty kill, and Smith’s role in fixing it is obvious.
The model, at least in part, points straight to Carolina-style pressure. Smith told Jason Gregor he prefers a 1-3 forecheck on the penalty kill and wants to keep opponents from getting easy access at the blue line.
That approach demands speed, range, and discipline. It also calls for one defenceman who can jump aggressively and another who can stay calm under pressure and get the puck down the ice.
Carolina’s version is even more aggressive than that. It’s a full-pressure system where if one player commits, everyone commits.
That’s how they can use six or even eight forwards across a penalty kill shift. The goal is simple: force the opposition to make a perfect play just to survive the pressure.
The catch, of course, is that you have to be able to skate.
That part seems to matter a lot to Edmonton. Darnell Nurse thrived on the penalty kill at the World Championships under Smith, and that example keeps coming up for a reason.
The style suits players who can close space quickly and keep moving. It also suits a team that wants the puck back, not just a team that wants to survive.
Faceoffs are part of that same mindset. Team Canada’s work on draws was described as ferocious but organized, with the defenceman cheating up the wall because the forward is attacking so hard after a loss. The message is the same there as it is everywhere else in this system: one guy goes, everybody goes.
That doesn’t mean Edmonton will copy Carolina piece for piece. The Hurricanes have spent years building a roster for that exact style, and the Oilers don’t have that luxury.
They may not even have the same front office setup for long. Smith will have to work with the players in front of him and make the best of it.
Still, the fit is there. The Oilers are a veteran team, not a group that needs to be coached through a rebuild of the basics. They need roles, they need expectations, and they need a penalty kill that brings heat instead of hesitation.
Smith also seems like the kind of assistant who can own that part of the job. In interviews, he sounds like a head coach. He sounds comfortable explaining what he wants, and he seems well suited to keep the structure tight without turning it into a power struggle.
So yes, some of Carolina’s tactics make sense here. Not all of them, but enough to matter. And for Edmonton, that might be exactly the right kind of change.
Forward pairs and D pairs for fun:
Dickinson - Savoie
Podkolzin - Samanski
Dach - Frederic
Nurse - Murphy
Ekholm - Emberson
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Tralmaks comes off a productive season with Grand Rapids, where he put up 26 goals and 42 points in 64 AHL games. For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious: a player who can score at the minor-league level, comes cheaply at $850,000, and gives the organization another name to track as camp approaches, even if the path to meaningful NHL minutes still has to be earned. [Read more 🡒]