In looking at Edmonton’s defense and goaltending at this moment, everything seems set. History tells us it’s a mirage. Remember Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson? In goal, the odds of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard as the 2026 playoff tandem is low.
So, since I can’t write this article with invisibile ink, please remember that things are going to change at these positions. Same as it ever was.
LEFT DEFENSE
Darnell Nurse. He is a durable player who faced elites 33-41 percent of his overall time for years, but (via Puck IQ) that has changed over the last couple of seasons. One of the players on the roster who will be under pressure from opening night, the Oilers badly need a strong playoff run from the big man. 100 percent
Jake Walman. I have been a fan of Walman for some time and was pleased the Oilers picked him up at the deadline. He showed well across all levels of competition (PuckIQ) after the deadline and can play both sides. I’d like to see him with Darnell Nurse, there appeared to be some chem there. 100 percent
Brett Kulak. If the Oilers can run him on the third pair all season, that’s a good thing. Kulak can move up the depth chart, but you’d like him as insurance you don’t need to use. 100 percent.
Mattias Ekholm. He’s an older player (35) who has both a complete skill set and some injury worries. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Ekholm play a depth role (at times) and have rest periods during the year. He is an important part of the team, and groin injuries can be difficult to overcome. The left side of Edmonton’s defense is strong enough to give Ekholm periods of rest, and it might benefit the team next spring. I’m putting him at 90 percent due to his history. He may well be ready for opening night.
Atro Leppänen is a player who should see NHL action, but he picked a mountain to climb on the LH defense in Edmonton. An extreme offensive player, we don’t really know how much chaos he brings defensively. The Finns are trained to keep everything outside, and his speed is good. I can’t wait to see him. 5 percent.
Cam Dineen is a puck-moving defender who has played a mentor role for some of the young RH blue since his arrival from the now defunct Coyotes. Since arriving in the Oilers system, Dineen has played 140 games for the Condors, 4 for the Oilers. He’s a long shot’s long shot.
Riley Stillman is new to the organization and I’ll guess he gets second-pairing minutes for Bakersfield this season. He is undersized for a shutdown type, but he has a reputation for being an effective coverage type, especially in the AHL.
Damien Carfagna is a player who should get noticed early in training camp and then in Bakersfield. He’s new to pro hockey, but has the complete range of skills, including foot speed and intelligent play. He’s in tough on this depth chart, but for those of us who watch AHL games regularly, Carfagna will be a player worth watching in training camp. I have him as the No. 7 prospect in the system.
RIGHT DEFENSE
Evan Bouchard. Getting Bouchard signed was one of the key moves made by the organization this summer. I count Bouchard as the third most valuable player on this roster. He has an enormous future. Absolute home run draft pick by the Oilers, the last one who turned into an impact player. 100 percent.
Ty Emberson is listed next and that has to do with the price paid to acquire him more than any edge he might have in securing the No. 6 spot on the Oilers depth chart. He’s a good young defender, strictly third pair, and I hope he makes the team. He wouldn’t last on the waiver wire for 25 seconds. 75 percent
Troy Stecher is right there with Emberson, and played better down the stretch. He was targeted by the Panthers due to lack of size and one worries about his ability to withstand the rigors of a long series against a filthy team. His results are good though. 75 percent
Alec Regula is the other defenseman in the mix for the 6-7 job on the Oilers next season. He’s an effective puck mover who fits the retrieve/quick outlet style Knoblauch prefers. If healthy, he could eat someone’s lunch. 50 percent.
Josh Brown is the shuttle blue and does offer a physical element the club may want to have available. The outscoring numers are not his friend and the Oilers are a lucid team in this area now. 5 percent
Beau Akey is a brilliant skater and can move the puck via pass or transport. The Oilers hold these things in high value, so the question then becomes how much AHL time is needed? He’s undersized and the AHL is a vicious game (to borrow a thought from April Wine) so we’ll see. I would love to see a healthy season and would hope Akey plays with Stillman.
GOALIES
Stuart Skinner enters training camp as the starter, unless something changes in the next few weeks. He will have trade value for a team looking for a younger goalie with experience, and we’ll see if Stan Bowman’s masterplan, described by several in the comments section, comes to pass in September. 100 percent.
Calvin Pickard. Calvin Pickard has delivered everything asked of him and it’ll be a damn shame if he’s dealt or lost to waivers. Honestly, this is a damn fine backup. 100 percent.
On the Lowdown today, our feature guest will be Bagged Milk and we’ll chat about the Oilers roster certain, uncertain and distant bells. We’ll also talk about the NFL lid lifter (who won the Super Bowl last year, I can’t remember???) and more. Noon to 2pm on Sports 1440 and You Tube (here).
Skinner says his goals include being a goalie for Team Canada at the Olympics and getting back to the SCF and finishing the job!
On that note, we know that Team Canada management said they called a bunch of goalies that were not invited to camp and that it doesn’t preclude them from making the team – performance for the rest of 2025 matters.
Stuart was asked about that and started with “Ya, I think we were all told” – seems to me that he was one that got a call (I’m thinking the likes of Blackwood, Kuemper, Thompson…..)
Skinner Henrique Emberson 1st for Sorokin.
There’s a hockey trade brewing.
Drai talked about a great summer, aside from the wedding weekend, alot of down time, “time to get healthy”…….
You might want to put a period after summer. Right now it reads like Drai had a great summer except for his wedding which you clearly didn’t intend.
McDavid has attended the NHL September media event yearly and was scheduled to go this year but (I think along with Drai, as usual) but Bouchard is going in his place.
Also sounds like he’ll talk to the media in Edmonton tomorrow.
Id like to see a new defensive coach turn Nurse loose. He can absolutely take over when he’s free to roam, hit, cause chaos, plays angry.
He will make mistakes, be criticized, take a penalty, get benched for said behaviour so it won’t happen. But sometimes you gotta take the bad with the good.
(Im thinking here about Bennett being encouraged and rewarded for running our goalie, while Kane gets benched for taking a penalty in trying to establish presence.)
Darnell Nurse turned loose, at full speed is a load.
I really thought Coffey would turn him loose. Nurse has the ability to go end to end via Big Bird yet he plays a game not to be noticed in a good way or bad way
Puck skills really arent there for end to end rushes. If it was a track meet then sure but gaining the zone and doing nothing with it is death in the NHL.
The difference being Bennett gets away with it and there’s absolutely no Oiler player the league would allow the same privilege, not even Darnell Nurse, who just needs to focus on being good and not bad.
Nuge and Bouchard, both who played the SCF very hurt (Nuge: broken hand and Bouch, undisclosed LBI) remain absent from captain skates (Hyman as well, of course).
As I said entering the playoffs – Cal should start training camp as the presumptive starter. He won’t, but he should.
He is simply the better goaltender at this time. As he was then.
We need solid goaltending to get out of the gate. I still believe Skinner will be traded Bowman is just biding his time.
My hope is that Bouchard can cut down on the egregious lapses in his own zone. He seems to be able to up his intensity in the playoffs, but during the regular season some of his defensive errors are almost inexplicable for an NHL player. I’m not talking about the creative plays that went bad, but the one’s resulting from lack of focus or intensity. Lots of Bouchard haters and I always try and defend him because I think he’s super valuable, but holy, sometimes you can’t. Here’s hoping he cleans that part up this season.
A couple of things from listening to Oilers Now last night.
It seems likely Hyman, at the least, won’t be playing many exhibition games and a “great opportunity” for some younger players to get some top 6 reps.
He then said later, we don’t know, but Hyman may not be ready to start the season and there could be more top 6 opportunity early.
He also thinks Philp would 100% get claimed on waivers – Bruce Curlock does as well.
Presuming group health, who hits the waiver wire, Stecher, Emberson or Regula?
I think there is zero chance its Emberson.
Stecher is at league min and massive value at that price – I can’t imagine he survives the waiver wire.
Regula, of course, more upside that Stecher and, for all we know, “better now” – but we don’t know and exhibition really can’t tell us much. Last we saw, he was a full time AHL player on the cusp but then he didn’t play for a full season. Can a team claim a non-established 25 year old d-man, who missed the entire season last year and keep them on their roster?
Maybe but who knows?
Similar to Jarventie.
I’d think Boston would try to get Regula back if he hit waivers. My preference is putting Stecher on waivers, only because the other 2 have higher upsides long term.
Waivers at the start of the season is a funny thing. So many players get waived at the same time it becomes a real crapshoot of who gets through versus who doesn’t.
Would Boston try and get him back? They’d need to keep him on their roster and they have 7 legit NHL d-man already.
Not to mention, they risked him last year for no evident reason – they could have kept him off their NHL roster and NHL cap, just like the Oilers, without exposing him.
To your last point, alot more famous names, and established players, than 25 year old Alex Regula slide right on through, right?
I think the risk with Regula is fairly high for a claim because he’s older, and while not NHL established has a clear and high end track record in the AHL. He’s also got the things every NHL team wants – he’s big and can move around pretty well, doesn’t chop the puck square. It wouldn’t be a top team, but a building team might take a flyer on him, it’s free, and they can demote him if they don’t see it
For me I think Stecher has the least chance of getting claimed. Because he’s small, and 31. As LT mentioned with his struggles against the Panthers, GM’s may not have seen him good. I’m not sure why some players chose the Oilers, like Josh Brown. He probably could have found a team that would play him in the NHL more, or use as a 7th
Also Regula and Bowman have history just as K.K and Emberson do as well. I think it’s Stecher hitting the waiver wire as Regula has the size factor that G.M’s like.
That’s the thing, no, they can’t demote him – they have to put him back on waivers.
Sorry that’s what I meant. If they don’t like what they see no loss if he gets claimed again
It’s still a potential risk to initially claim him, even if they could put him back on waivers and potentially lose him if he doesn’t initially pan out. It is highly likely that on the day they claim him if its right before the season begins, they would need to send another player down to the minors.
Maybe they have a player on an ELC they can send down to make room without risking waivers, but if not they would be risking another player off their 23 man roster being claimed on waivers. Unless the team is pretty sure that Regula is better than whoever they now have to risk on waivers, they probably wouldn’t claim him.
All true. The wildcard to me is he on some teams radar? He’s been a part of trades twice, it seems he’s on the radar. What if he shows well at camp as do Stecher and Emberson, and they take the chance that he doesn’t get claimed to get him some reps in the A? I think he’s at some risk to be claimed. I’m also not convinced the Bruins are that deep at RD
The 3 year contract is why Josh Brown chose the Oilers.
Probably
For me it would be Stetcher in the event all equal after training camp
I love Stecher but would be probably the easiest (cost wise) to re-aquire if needed at deadline
Wouldn’t a trade be the preferred route to take?
The key for me is the last sentence. Nurse actually had a solid-very good regular season (in my opinion) but, AGAIN, he not only didn’t step up in the playoffs (like Bouchard does) but his game regressed considerably.
It’s been pretty much every year since the Winnipeg series that Nurse has struggled big time in the playoffs – for a few years there was legit “injury excuse” but, to my knowledge, that was not an issue this past playoffs.
If Nurse repeats last season’s regular in the playoffs, there may have been Stanley
The last sentence is the key to the D-group for me. The Oilers have 4 legit NHL LD (arguably all top 4) that will play nightly and one needs to play right. Its not only clear that this should be Walman (he’s had success in his career on the right side and Kulak/Ekholm have struggled on the right side) but that he should be paired with Nurse.
Nurse/Walman played 105 minutes together in the regular season and were 8-2 goals and 61% expected goals.
It was a mistake (in my opinion) that they only played 23 minutes together in the playoffs – 2-1 goals and 58% expected goals.
Lock this pairing in as an elite 2nd pairing
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Lets lock Kulak in as “Ekholm-insurance” as well.
I mean, we start Ekholm/Bouchard given its been a top 3 pairing in the NHL for a few years but, if Ekholm is “looking old” or “looking hurt”, Kulak/Bouchard were sensational in 150 PLAYOFF minutes last season to a tune of 7-1 goals and 61% expected goals. That is something that cannot be ignored and needs to be explored, right?
They did play 200 minutes together in the regular season and were 9-12 goals but, again, 58% expected goals.
There is something here.
I appreciate what Pickard brings, but if (when) a change comes I think he is the guy to move along. He played above his level last year which should make him more appealing to other teams. However, his historical numbers suggest he is not a guy who can play the tough teams and have sustained success (I’m pulling this from memory from what Dennis King talked about).
I remain a Skinner fan, even while recognizing he is an inconsistent goalie. I think the Oilers can win with him and another number one type who can step in when he is off his game. No idea who that could be though.