Edmonton Oilers Want To Upgrade Their Defense
The Edmonton Oilers are continuing to struggle, especially defensively. Recall that the Oilers had the potential to match the Philip Broberg offer sheet from the St. Louis Blues. They chose not to, and now they are in a bind.
Not to mention Vincent Desharnais is in Vancouver, and Cody Ceci is in San Jose. There is a big hole on defense. Throw in the fact that Darnell Nurse is out five to ten days after taking that hit from Ryan Reaves, and the Oilers’ depth on defense is being tested.
NHL Rumors: Canadiens, Wild, Flyers, Predators, and the Sabres
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period was on TSN Radio in Montreal on Monday and was asked about the Edmonton Oilers season and stated while they know how good the team is offensively, they want to improve the club defensively.
Again it comes down to defensive play and goaltending for them, and I think that’ll be the storyline for them the rest of the season. And I do think they are going to make a move for a defenseman later on in the season,” Pagnotta said. “We’ve talked about this before. Canadiens have a guy that would be a very nice fit on that blue line. And David Savard, maybe that’s a maybe that’s a slot that gets filled closer to the deadline.”
Oilers and David Savard Could Be a Fit
Later on Monday, in a new edition of the Latest on the Fourth Period, Kate Pettersson asked Dave Pagnotta if the Oilers could look for a defenseman and if that player was in Montreal.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: Teams Will Be Eyeing Montreal Canadiens Defenseman David Savard
Kate Pettersson: Do you think that they are looking to add? And if so, could there be a potential target on the ice that they can take a look at tonight in Montreal.
Pagnotta: “There might be. David Savard is in the lineup for the Montreal Canadiens, and he’s going to be a target for a number of teams, including the Edmonton Oilers. Yes, I think the Oilers and Stan Bowman are looking around to see what their options are going to be later on in the season.
They’re last in the NHL right now on the PK. They want to certainly improve that element, but they’re also cognizant of the time of year it is financially. They’ve got some cap space. They’ve got a little bit of wiggle room right now, but doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to spend it. I think they’re strategically looking at options.
NHL Rumors: Should the Edmonton Oilers Bring Back Cody Ceci?
I believe David Savard will be one of those options that they look at because I think they definitely want to bring in somebody with physicality and a defensive mind on that blue line. They’re not going to get somebody like Matthias Ekholm, who they brought in the other year, to kind of stabilize things on that back end, primarily because they don’t have the assets to pull it off.
They don’t have a deep cupboard of draft picks right now that they can go out and start buying. So a guy like David Savard $3.5 million cap. The Habs are going to get a lot of interest in him, he’s back in the lineup tonight, and yeah, the Edmonton Oilers can take a quick look at him.
I think he’s going to be a target. And a player like him is going to be somebody that the Oilers would like to add between, I guess now if they can find the right move and the March 7 trade deadline.”
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