Let's be honest, the Oiler's have not been known for their defensemen in a very long time. This season will not be an exception to that. There is some optimism with a few prospects but none of those players are likely to have much of an impact this season. The list of veterans isn't very impressive either, Andrej Sekera is out for the year already and Kris Russell has been a very controversial player ever since he became an Oiler. We probably don't have to worst defense group in the league but we are also a long ways off from being the best.
The majority of last year's defense are back this season. The only player from the NHL roster moving on is Eric Gryba, who was usually the seventh man last year and only saw action in 21 games last year. He was bought out this off season, a really pointless move by Oiler's management. By sending Gryba to the minors this season, it would have saved the Oiler's a bit of cap space over the next two seasons and before the Sekera injury, it was looking like every dollar was going to matter for the Oiler's this season.
The other defenseman who won't be playing this season is Andrej Sekera who, as I mentioned previously, out currently out with injury. It's a bit sad as this injury could end up leading to the end of Sekera's career. He is 32 years old this year and has a very long recovery ahead of him. We all hope he is able to make a quick recovery and hopefully return next season but it will be an uphill battle for Sekera.
There will be a few new faces in training camp this year and right now there likely won't be a roster spot for each player. Jakub Jerabek was just signed by the Oiler's this week and Kevin Gravel was signed at the start of free agency. Jerabek was part of the Stanley Cup winning Washington Capitals last season but wasn't a regular in their lineup and only saw two games of play through their Stanley Cup run. Gravel has a similar story spending the last few seasons in Los Angeles not being able to crack their roster full time. Both players are moving to the Oiler's and a much weaker defensive group with hopes of solidifying themselves as full time NHlers.
Another new face in camp will be freshly drafted Evan Bouchard. The Oiler's got very lucky during the draft when Bouchard fell to them with the 10th overall pick. Bouchard fills a lot of roster holes for the Oiler's being a right hand shot with huge offensive upside capable of contributing on the powerplay. It will be interesting to see how Bouchard compares besides veteran NHL defensemen and I'd guess he at least gets a few games with the club to start the season.
Returning from last year are Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, Kris Russell, Matthew Benning, Ethan Bear and Darnell Nurse. At this point it seems unlikely all six will be on the opening night roster with Jerabek, Gravel and Bouchard coming in fighting for roster spots.
Klefbom had a very poor year last season and will be looking to have a bounce back year and hopefully will be able to remain healthy all season. He has had very bad luck on the injury front with a bad shoulder last year which prevented him from playing at his full potential. Klefbom underwent surgery right at the end of last season and should be fully recovered heading into training camp. This wasn't his first injury though, Klefbom suffered a very strange staph infection during the 2015-16 season after getting a cut on his leg. It was a bizarre injury that kept resurfacing really impacting Klefbom's earlier career. The Oiler's need a big season out of Klefbom and will hope he can play on the top pairing this season.
The other half of the top pairing will be Adam Larsson. As far as right handed denfenders go, Larsson is in a league of his own on the Oiler's roster. None of the other defensemen coming into training camp will be even close to Larsson. Last year Larsson was clearly the Oiler's best defenders and will once again hold that crown this season.
As we creep towards the start of the season, Darnell Nurse's lack of contract slowly starts to become more of a concern. Nurse is a very young defender with a good amount of upside but at the moment hasn't proved he is capable of being much more than a bottom pairing defender. Unfortunately that still places him above the majority of the Oiler's defenders and Nurse played a significant amount of time on the top paring last season. Nurse's agent has stated he won't even start talking a long term contract under $5 million per season and right now Nurse has yet to prove he's even worth $2 million, I think the two sides are going to have some major work to do before coming to any sort of agreement.
After a great rookie season, Matt Benning had a pretty up and down year last season and really worked his ay down the depth chart. Most people have him as starting the season on the second pairing but I just don't think he's capable of handling that role at this point in time. Benning is still young and should improve over the next few years so he's by no means a write off just yet but he's going to have to prove that he is still an NHL caliber this season. Jerabek and Gravel will be looking to knock Benning further down the depth chart and the battles in camp will be very interesting.
Ethan Bear is one of my favorite Oiler's prospects and was very happy when he saw action in 21 games last season. He is small but has a huge offensive side that the Oiler's are desperate to have in the lineup. Unfortunately Bear is going to have to really prove himself in camp in order to start the season on the roster. I will be rooting for Bear but I expect him to start the season in the NHL.
Overall there will be nine players fighting it out for seven roster spots. Larsson, Klefbom, Nurse and Russell are the four players I see as guarantees to make the opening night line up. Benning, Jerabek and Gravel will be the three player right below them behind them and seem most likely to fill in the last three roster spots. The wild cards heading into camp will be Bouchard and Bear. I wouldn't be surprised if the Oiler's keep an extra defenseman to start off the season in order to give Bouchard an extended tryout before deciding to go back to Juniors.
My prediction for opening night roster has Klefbom and Larsson as the top pair, Nurse and Benning as the second pair and Russell and Bouchard on the final pair. I think Jerabek and Gravel will both make the roster with Ethan Bear being the odd man out and starting with the farm team.
I expect to see each of the new defenders get a chance to prove they deserve to be NHL defenders. We will see lots of changes on the backend this year and I don't think anyones spot in the pecking order is secure. We will see Bear back at some point and hopefully he will have improved his game to a point where the Oiler's won't be able to justify sending him back down to the minors.