The Edmonton Oilers were a team that was rolling into the NHL Trade Deadline. However, General Manager Ken Holland knew he needed more depth for his team, even with the addition of Corey Perry.
Holland trades for Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick right before the deadline. Then he adds Troy Stetcher on the deadline to position the Edmonton Oilers to make a deep run with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
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TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined SportsCenter with Jay Onrait on the trade deadline moves made by the Oilers and how they positioned themselves to be a deeper team to play against.
NHLRumors.com transcriptions
Jay Onrait: “We got to go back to Kenny Holland in his Quarter Zip. They needed the depth up front. We heard from a lot of people around the Oilers that they were looking for not one but two forwards; they got them. What do you think a guy like Henrique brings to the table and even Carrick who a lot of players seem to love playing with.”
Craig Button: “Well, I could just simply say playback the Kenny Holland comments. That’s exactly what I thought all along. They needed to get deeper for the group. They needed to add a little bit of weight. They added some skill and some skating speed. Kenny talked about the penalty killing. What it’s called is lineup flexibility. They can flex through their lineup.
You have Adam Henrique. You can load up now Draisaitl and McDavid depending on what the matchups are, giving your coach many options come playoff time; when situations change in the game, opponents throw different things at you. That’s a real benefit.
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We know penalty killing is really important. But when you start to think about the playoffs, it’s who can go the hardest the longest. Bruce Cassidy last year said we beat the Edmonton Oilers with our third and fourth line. That’s what happens now with Henrique. It pushes other players down the lineup right? They’re not scaled up too high. And now what you’re able to do, as you’re able to grind. You’re able to sustain through courses of the games.
Remember, it’s every other night, every other night for the playoffs if you want to win, and I think to the Edmonton Oilers, for me, that’s the area that I thought that would give them the greatest benefit if they didn’t do anything else. And I think that that’s a real significant move for the Oilers. They’ve played 40 games this year where they have been lights out great defensively, offensively and everything.
So they know they can do that. Yeah, I think this makes them a stronger team. We already know they’re a strong favorite. This makes them even that much better. Now, the margins are thin, but sometimes it just takes a little bit of improvement in different areas to give yourself that edge.”