Lowe and behold, the Oilers have suddenly become a potent puck-moving team. Apart from Staios and Souray, every other player is a solid skater and passer of the puck. I know Lowe's trying to follow the Detroit model of domination by puck possession, but it's not like they don't have a strong, physical defense to actually counter other teams when they do manage to launch an attack. With the departure over the years of guys like Smith, Hejda (shown left), and Greene, the team finds itself rich with puck-movers and lacking any shut-down defensemen.
Alright, that word gets thrown around too much...let's differentiate.
Puck-Moving Defenseman: Visnovsky is a prime example. These are guys that skate the ice well, see the ice well, and are always thinking of getting it up and starting the attack. They have excellent long passes, and are capable of using speed up the ice to effectively setup the breakout. Typical examples in the NHL include: Timonen, Zubov, Gonchar, Grebeshkov
Shut-Down Defenseman: Sometimes confused with "stay-at-home defenseman", shut-down defenseman are basically menaces on the defensive end. They don't necessarily have to be guys like Matt Greene (stay-at-home) who are effective in their own end but essentially pylons in the offensive zone. There are plenty of mobile shut-down defensemen in this league, and in the new NHL, it's their mobility that has granted them the ability to become great at what they do. Examples include: Philips, Weber, Volchenkov, Vishnevski, Hejda, Morris, Sauer, Clark, Hamhuis, and Kuba.
These are names much less prominent than the puck-movers, but these guys bring the same value to a team as the offensive guys do.
Here's other potential shut-down defenseman candidates still available either by UFA or trade. Keep in mind we only have about $3.7-3.8 million left in cap room if Delauriers comes up and Brule goes down:
Marek Malik - solid stay-at-homer, don't know if will be as mobile as we'd want him, but could come cheap with a lack of candidates. $2.9 million?
Filip Kuba - has 1 year left at $3 million, and is on a Tampa team lacking any signs of offensive defensemen apart from the now-obsolete Matt Carle. You think a Souray-for-Kuba deal is palpable? Or a package deal involving a forward and Grebeshkov?
Vitaly Vishnevski/Paul Martin - both guys are excellent 5-on-5 players and face the toughest competition on their teams. And New Jersey is desparate for an offensive presence on their blue-line. I'm sure they'd like an opportunity to nab a Grebeshkov or a Souray, and they'd be willing to give us one of Martin or Vishnevski back.
Derrick Morris - Former Flame has completely turned his career around since falling apart with the Avalanche. Although his offensiv game is nowhere where it used to be, he has since become a force on the blue-line for the Coyotes, playing some of their toughest minutes alongside Ballard last season. If he could be had by trade, he'd be a great pickup, even at a $4 million cap hit (it's only one season's worth, he knows his value has diminished, and he loves Alberta so he'll re-sign cheaper here; plus trading someone like Grebs/Staios for him would make it so that our cap only goes up $2.5 million, he is much more effective a defenseman then either of those 2)
It's a great time to be pursuing shut-down defensemen. Puck-movers are at an all time high in terms of value, and the Oilers are abundant with them. I don't think it'd be too dumb of us to try to nab a legit shut-down defenseman to play in our top-4, and to bring more of a physical presence to the blue-line.
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