To no one's surprise, the Dermott/Brown/Stecher experiment hasn't resulted in the team finding a top four defenseman, and Emberson is a bit further away from that role than I'd been hoping for in the couple of games we've seen him against NHL competition.
We need someone in that spot stat, and if it's not going to a vet FA like Jultz or Shattenkirk (and I'm not sure it should be) then it has to come via trade. Seattle needs cap space to ice a 24-man roster, so maybe we can nab Will Borgen from them?
None of those players are legit Top 4 defensemen, I don't think that's what we're really evaluating. It's who is going to be the best fit next to Nurse, and who is the most stable option on the bottom pair. Unfortunately with Nurse being out, and the decision thus far to play non-NHL d men behind them, it's bee difficult to actually gauge who is the better fit for what.
With no Nurse, I wonder if it's best to basically run with some iteration of this the rest of pre-season:
Ekholm - XXX
Kulak - XXX
Dermott - XXX
With Stecher, Brown and Emberson rotating through the XXX. Maybe give Bouchard one more game, we don't really need to see more of him. Give Ekholm one of the games off, he unfortunately probably has to play more than he should with Nurse gone.