If Dermott's healthy I think he could surprise, but the problem for him is the same one as Stecher and the fact they're made of glass. Both have shown they can be quality 3rd pairing (and occasionally 2nd pairing in Stecher's case) options, but never for a prolonged stretch.
Also I think people undervalue a defence that can quickly get back and transition the puck before the forecheck arrives, especially with the forward core the Oil have. Dumping the puck in on the RD side was a near-automatic forecheck chance for the opposition, one that could turn into an entire shift chance because the Oil had a defenceman on the ice who couldn't win races for loose pucks.
Neither Broberg or Kulak are world beaters, but even they solved that massive issue for the Oilers' top 4 last spring. The Oil don't need Emberson, Stecher, Dermott, or even Kulak to be world beaters, they just need them to be competent at 5v5 in all situations, particularly in transition, which is something Ceci and Vinny struggled to do (along with Nurse).
I do think the Oil need to add a Murphy, Kovacevic, Schenn, Savard, Manson, Carlo, Mayfield, Hakanpaa, etc, -type to round out the PK going into the playoffs, but they've got a lot of runway before they need to cross that bridge.
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