Oilers mix up defensive pairs as trade deadline approaches

While general manager Ken Holland is looking at different ways to tinker with the Edmonton Oilers roster before Friday's NHL trade deadline, head coach Kris Knoblauch is finding ways to adjust the lineup configuration of the players he has.

And the area under the hood where his attention has been lately is the Oilers defence, which began featuring changes to a couple of pairings on the weekend.

Cody Ceci was split from his regular partner in Darnell Nurse and placed with Brett Kulak, while Nurse took Kulak's usual partner, Vincent Desharnais, during a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

The changes stuck, at least initially, as the Oilers embarked on a four-game road trip, beginning Tuesday against the Boston Bruins, where the new-look pairings were together again at Boston's TD Garden.

But considering the Oilers have been strong on the back end, allowing no more than two goals against on a four-game win streak they brought into Boston, there was concern it could be a case of if it ain't broke don't fix it.

“I think a lot of things have been part of that. Obviously, when you are limiting your goals against, you're winning,” Knoblauch said before Tuesday's puck drop. “It's not just the Edmonton Oilers, but every NHL team. So, that's important, to keep the goals against down and I think a lot of things factor into that.”

“I think our five-on-five play has been a lot better the last couple weeks, the penalty kill's not been giving up goals. They've been pretty sharp through this little stretch. But probably the biggest thing is goaltending.”

The six goals the Oilers have given up during the four-win streak was a marked improvement from the 4.2 goals per game they surrendered during the previous 10 games in February, which saw them go 4-5-1.

As for the small sample size for the new-look defence, Knoblauch said the jury is still out.

“It was just one game and I thought they were outstanding. I liked all the pairs,” Knoblauch said, pointing out Ceci and Kulak accounted for three points against Pittsburgh. “A couple guys, I thought they really elevated their game, played well.”

With just days to go until the trade deadline, the changes led to speculation the Oilers might be tipping their hand when it comes to potential roster reformation.

“You always have to be careful about making changes just for the fact of changing,” Knoblauch told Sportsnet's Mark Spector. “You have to be careful of, yes, you may be adding a player that's a high-quality player, but you have to know the effect on what you're taking out of your lineup and maybe you're disrupting the chemistry within the team, or chemistry within that linemate or whatever it is.

Without a doubt, the Oilers have their sights set on nothing short of a Stanley Cup run right now. And Friday's deadline is expected to reflect that in some form or another, whether it's shipping out draft picks for at least a rental, or putting up a couple of top prospects to bring in something possibly more prominent or longer-term.

“That being said, I like our team,” Knoblauch said. “We've got a lot of good players. And I guess we'll see on Friday.”