OILERS’ DEFENCE REMAINS A WORK IN PROGRESS
With Sekera out, it’s hard to get a read on how well the team’s back end can perform
Oscar Klefbom has come back healthier of body and defence partner Adam Larsson healthier of mind to form a stout tag-team, but the rest of the Edmonton Oilers blue line continues to be the proverbial work in progress.
The questions bounce around like a puck on bad ice.
(1) Are Matt Benning and Darnell Nurse truly a second pairing on the back-end?
(2) Is Kris Russell’s role as mentor for Evan Bouchard or Ethan Bear if recalled?
(3) Where thou art Andrej Sekera in these times of need?
(4) Do the Oilers really have a true top NHL defence tag-team? Let’s start with (4) first. Probably not. Klefbom and Larsson would likely be 3-4 on a Stanley Cup threat, but they are absolutely the best the Oilers have night in, night out. Larsson did show at the World Championship when paired with Arizona’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson that he could be the defensive conscience to OEL’s flights of offensive fancy and Larsson was an all-star at that tournament.
“Larsson was outstanding at the Worlds,” said Jersey GM Ray Shero, who traded Larsson for Taylor Hall and continues to be a big fan of Larsson’s nasty style.
So (3). Sekera has been seen walking around the dressing room, unaided without the encumbrance of a walking boot or crutches, but whether he can skate better than a sportswriter yet — after tearing his Achilles in August — is debatable. The Oilers miss him as much today as they have with all the yesterdays — last year with his ripped knee ligaments, now with his serious tendon problem. He grows more valuable by the day when before he was hurt some wondered where he fit and how good he really was.
The Oilers are finding out how deep a hole he’s created, with every passing day. He’s not flashy, but when he’s in one piece and at peace with his game, he’s quietly very effective. When he does return, sometime in the New Year, he once again will be trying to jump onto a moving train.
So for (2), we’ve got Russell, who has a torn fan base — many loving his bring-it-on shotblocking ability and willingness to play above his weight class, and others griping about his puck-moving. All we know is he’s a solid pro, and a teacher for Bouchard, who played one game in Sweden, and escaped with at worst a C on coach Todd McLellan’s report card. So that pairing is fine, for now, and maybe longer as they assess whether Bouchard belongs in the NHL or in junior.
OK, Benning and Nurse. They may be playing above their station. Maybe they’d be better as a third pairing because Benning has played 136 NHL games and Nurse is one game from 200, far from the mantra that “you have to play 300 before you get a true reading on defencemen.”
“It was evident that one pair struggled a lot in our first game when it came to puck-moving and preventing,” said McLellan. “And we’ve talked to them. But as a group we have to defend and move pucks better and be quicker ... there’s also some offence to be created there.”
Or through a trade for Justin Faulk or somebody else, but then we’ve plowed that ground a lot. That is GM Peter Chiarelli’s job — not that of the head coach, who uses the tools he’s given.
Throw out Russell’s 720 games, and the others in the top six have 1,009. There is an 18-year-old (Bouchard), Nurse (23), Benning and Klefbom (24), Larsson (25).
“The defence is only one segment ... I’d say the goaltending, the forwards and the coaches have to sharpen up,” McLellan said.
Are we jumping on Benning, who is plus-10 in his 136 games, too harshly? Nurse, too?
Could they use an experienced hand with them to get them through rough waters? Absolutely, but the Oilers as constituted today don’t have that. Cue Sekera.
“Bouchard played a good game (with Russell) but we’re playing with the deck we have and have to make the best of it,” McLellan said. “I believe in this group.
“They’re (Nurse and Benning) are still very young defencemen as far as games played and they’re playing big minutes ... but that’s part of growing up. That said, in years three and four, you really have to assume that role. Those two players should be prime-time defenders and be able to shut down other team’s offensive players, be penaltykillers and be able to initiate break-outs.
“They’ve got a lot of the tools. Sometimes you’re over-physical, you’re running out of position. They made mistakes (in Sweden).”
Benning knows he has to be better.
“I was minus-3. One was my giveaway ... I went to make a pass, hit the shaft of a guy’s stick and they went back-door on me (for a goal), the other two I was just a bystander on the ice,” said Benning. “You see experienced defencemen who’ve been in the league for eight years having those nights too. As a young defenceman I’m trying to learn every day and I do believe I can handle this role.
“If I was minus-1 would we be having this conversation. I dunno? I know Jersey forechecks well and they stay on top of you.”