Edmonton Oilers Looking To Add Depth Up Front and on the Backend
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play segment with Steve Kouleas and Carter Hutton and when asked about what the Oilers might do at the deadline, he stated they will look to add to their forward depth and on defense not goaltending.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
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Steve Kouleas: “What are the Oilers thinking? I’d like to believe they targeted adding a defenseman and someone to back up Stuart Skinner. Right, Dave?”
Dave Pagnotta: “Maybe. I think, I think, in terms of goaltending. I think that the focus has shifted a little bit more towards bringing in a mid-six guy and even the blue line and further upgrading the blue line. I think with the way that they perform, you look at the numbers and look with the coaching change made Knoblauch there. I think a lot of credit also needs to go to Paul Coffey and what he’s done in rejuvenating the defensive core.
And everybody knows that he was one hell of an offensive-minded player, and certainly Bouchard is benefiting here. But I think the structure overall defensively has helped out the goaltending significantly. And the way that Skinner is performing was definitely a result and he’s upgraded tremendously himself, but it’s also a product of some of the assistance that he’s gotten in front of him.
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And I think that because of that performance, Kenny Holland is looking at different options up front, can you further deepen this roster in your mid to lower six even after the Corey Perry addition? And what about the blue line? Can you get another physical type of presence? Like the Ekholm move that they last season? Can you replicate something similar this year?
You look at Montreal. Is it a David Savard, who has one year left on his contract that has a reasonable cap hit. But there’s some movement there and the Canadiens with one level of retention left maybe that’s something that they continue to explore and have deeper discussions on over this next month leading up to the deadline.
So I think the Oilers more so than anything Cools are looking at other areas of the roster versus goaltending. If something falls into their lap, obviously they’re gonna take it, so I think the focal points are the skaters in front of the crease.”