Defense Will Be a Concern for the Edmonton Oilers This Season

Lots of Passengers for the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday Night

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined Jay Onrait on SportsCenter to discuss what happened as the Edmonton Oilers were blown out on home ice by the Winnipeg Jets.

NHLRumors.com Transcriptions

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Jay Onrait: “I remember last year when the Oilers lost even bigger in their season opener, eight, one to the Canucks. So we won’t hit the panic button just yet, but what, what did you specifically see from this Oilers team on the opening night that concerned you?”

Craig Button: “Okay, so three things I saw from the Edmonton Oilers that concern me. Number one, a lack of urgency and intensity that’s funny, after everything that happened with Connor McDavid in that Prime Video, like, what’s going on? So that their lack of detail, I mean, they were just flying by. You know, it’s like, okay, let’s learn how to position ourselves.

And then the defense. We know it’s not very good. And Stan Bowman knows it’s not very good, but he’s watching this, and he’s got to ask himself, like, how quickly do I got to get some reinforcements in, right? Because it just isn’t good enough. There’s no other way to put it. The fence that went to game seven in the Stanley Cup final last year. The team is not on the blue line is not Cup caliber.”

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Onrait: “They’re missing Cody Ceci.”

Button: “How about they’re missing Broberg? Yeah, that they’re missing players. They’re missing Desharnais. It’s not as good a blue line as the one that finished the season.”

Onrait: “They didn’t match Broberg. They want that flexibility. We’ll see where they go with it.”

What Went Wrong for the Edmonton Oilers

TSN’s Edmonton Bureau Chief Ryan Rishaugh joined Jay Onrait on SportsCenter to discuss what happened with the Edmonton Oilers and how did everything go so wrong on opening night.

NHLRumors.com Transcriptions

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Jay Onrait: “What a performance by the Winnipeg Jets in their opener on the road in Edmonton, six nothing over the Oilers. Kyle Connor scores a goal, becoming the first player in NHL history to record a goal in seven straight season openers. Edmonton looses 6-0 after dropping their first game last year 8-1 to Vancouver. So I guess if you’re looking for a positive. It’s not 8-1, its 6-0 but Ryan Rishaugh our Edmonton Bureau Chief, is joining us now. Ryan, put, what happened to the Oilers on Wednesday night?”

Ryan Rishaugh: “Well, Jay, simply put, the goaltending wasn’t very good, the defense wasn’t very good, and the offense wasn’t very good. Back to you, really, it kind of feels that simple, right? I mean, all facets of the game. We’re just not good enough tonight, whether it’s the build up, you know, weeks and weeks through training camp and the pundits all picking the Oilers, there were a lot to pick them last year too. And remember how they started last year, right?

I can’t help but think maybe there’s something in that build-up that can throw a team off a little bit in the early going. So listen, Connor McDavid didn’t have a shot on net tonight. Connor Hellebuyck was decent, but the Oilers did not make the night very difficult on him. So, the offense definitely wasn’t nearly where it needed to be.

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And I think the Oilers did get outworked in a number of important moments in tonight’s (Wednesday’s) game, but defensively, it just wasn’t good enough, right? Lots of new pairings that we saw that did not last the entire game. And I think of all the things that went wrong tonight, if you were to say what’s the most concerning, probably what we saw defensively from this team tonight.

Because I think Jay, we all know that the Oilrsoffense is going to be okay. Stuart Skinner will probably get himself squared away. But the defense right? That’s what everybody is wondering. Is this blue line going to be good enough this year?

And this was not a good night for the D core in general, for the whole team defensively, but yeah, to answer that question, J, defense, goaltending, and offense.”

Onrait: “Basically everything.”