TSN: Pierre LeBrun talking with Jay Onrait about the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers searching for top-four defenseman.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Onrait: “Tuesday’s insider trading, you said the Canucks are looking for a top-four defenseman, and last week on the show, you had just chatted with Oilers President Jeff Jackson. Jeff Jackson mentioned they might be looking for a top-four defenseman.
Pierre, we about to see two Pacific Division arch rivals duke it out over who gets the best top-four defenseman?
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LeBrun: “Yeah. I mean, they’re both going to try to add on the blue line, Jay, that is correct. What I would say is I’m feeling more urgency from the Canucks. My sense from talking to teams around the league is that Vancouver is poking around and looking at top-four D options. Obviously, the injury to Filip Hronek has really been impactful. And so I think there’s a little more urgency on the part of the Canucks.
And second of all, Jim Rutherford, Patrick Allvin, the Rutherford-esque tradition has been continued by Allvin, who last year in January, traded for Elias Lindholm. They don’t need to wait until the trade deadline. We know that from Jim Rutherford.
Whereas I think the Oilers listen, I do think they end up adding to their blue line before March 7th, but I don’t feel the same level of urgency. In the sense that I think that they feel their, their defense, which was much malignant pre-season because of the losses, has actually been better than what people anticipated.
So I don’t think they feel, you know, they’re in a situation where it has to happen now. But all things being equal, yes, that is where the Oilers are determined to, to add before March 7th as well.
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