There is a great article over on the Athletic by Lowetide talking about the Oilers defensive make-up. In summary, despite what most think- Oilers defense has been excellent. Nurse-Kulak as a second pair or Nurse-Stetcher as a second pair have been performing at what a typical 2nd pair does for championship teams. Emerson, after a shaky start, has been excellent. He also posted some numbers on Nurse playing on his right and they are, surprisingly, very good. It has opened up his ability to transition the puck. He even suggested, that if this keeps up, it may be better for the Oilers to look for a left d partner for Emberson. It’s still early - let’s see how it holds up.
Everyone knows this team needs a RD upgrade but we aren’t where we are at because of our defense. The whole right defensive upgrade has become a talking point (about our current struggles) and it’s become annoying.
We are where we are at because of our special teams, lack of offense and goaltending.
I blame Stauffer a lot because when this team isnt playing well this year, he always talks about a defensive upgrade.
Its also annoying because I think Nurse/Stetcher have been fine but Knoblauch keeps trying different combinations. Honestly I don’t why we even have Dermott up on the main roster. Guy should be in the AHL and brought up when there is an injury if we are so worried about accruing cap.
Forwards have been a mess all season. I generally blame the players for the lack of offense. But once again I kind of blame Knoblauch (who I actually like) because he can’t figure out any line combos. I think once again the Oilers had a putrid preseason.
But if we have learned anything about this team in the past it’s probably not worth over analyzing their play at the beginning of the year because it takes awhile to get going (which would be nice if JJ/SB could figure out why).