SAN JOSE — Evan Bouchard, Travis Dermott, Josh Brown…
A peculiar aspect of the Edmonton Oilers` defensive strategy under assistant coach Paul Coffey is the constant rotation of defensive pairings throughout the season. In any given game, a defenseman might find themselves playing alongside two or even three different partners, depending on various factors such as game situations, injuries, or simply Coffey`s tactical adjustments.
Darnell Nurse, Cam Dineen, John Klingberg…
The Oilers did have one consistent pairing – Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard – who played together for almost 1,000 minutes at five-on-five. The next most frequent pair, Brett Kulak and Ty Emberson, logged 574 minutes. No other defensive duo reached 500 minutes of even-strength play together.
Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, Troy Stecher, Ty Emberson…
By the 82nd game of the season, the Oilers started with only five defensemen, two of whom had spent the majority of the season playing for Bakersfield in the AHL. Interestingly, they chose not to write their names on the front of their helmets with hockey tape, unlike in youth hockey leagues.
And remarkably, every single defenseman listed has, at some point, been paired with Brett Kulak, a key player who provides stability on the blue line.
“It’s been our norm for about 90 percent of the season, so it’s actually reassuring that we aren’t facing unexpected changes right now,” Kulak commented on a practice day where the Oilers had eight defensemen present, noting that Ekholm was injured at home and Stecher was on the trip but absent from practice.
“Of course, we anticipate players returning to the lineup, and we’ll adapt accordingly. But for the moment, we`re just keeping things moving, business as usual. It’s been somewhat similar to how we’ve operated over the past month or six weeks.”
The latest player to recover from injury was Walman, who participated in a practice at the San Jose Barracudas arena. The Oilers opted to practice there for a couple of days instead of traveling directly to Los Angeles and practicing at the Kings` facility, their first-round playoff opponent.
During this practice, Walman returned after missing the last five regular-season games due to a left leg injury. Additionally, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman were back in their usual top-six forward positions, just days before the playoff series opener on Monday.
It appears that the injured players are recovering just in time for the playoffs.
“I don’t think we seemed too injured on the ice today,” Hyman stated. “We’re in good shape, although we’re missing a significant defenseman (Ekholm). But others need to step up. Everyone has to elevate their game.”
With the offensive talent in the Oilers` lineup, scoring is rarely a concern. However, playoff hockey emphasizes defensive solidity.
This focus intensifies scrutiny on routine breakout plays. A misplaced pass or defensive lapse in the playoffs draws considerably more attention than similar errors during the regular season.
For this team, and any team really, the goal is to minimize defensive play.
The strategy is to get the puck to Connor McDavid or Draisaitl and put pressure on the opposing team`s defense. The game revolves around puck retrievals, making quick, smart first passes, and maintaining defensive awareness when not in possession.
As for developing chemistry with a defensive partner, that will naturally evolve as the playoff series progresses.
