Edmonton Oilers insider reveals opening night defence pairs

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Liam McCormick
September 23, 2024 (5:37 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers will have a new look defence core heading into next season, and insider Bob Stauffer has revealed where Coach Knoblauch has them pencilled in.

The Oilers have brought in Ty Emberson, Troy Stecher, Josh Brown, and Travis Dermott for depth options on the back end. Stauffer is reporting that Emberson will start in the top four next to Darnell Nurse, and Josh Brown will slot in on the third pair next to Brett Kulak. That leaves Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott on the outside.

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Emberson
Kulak - Brown
Dermott - Stecher

It's exciting to see Knoblauch take the first chance with Ty Emberson in the top four. The Oilers acquired him in trade for Cody Ceci, and many analysts believe the 24 year old Emberson may thrive with a bigger role on a better team. Coach Knoblauch has a history with Emberson too, having coached him previously in the AHL, and that's familiarity is a good factor for Emberson getting this chance.

Plenty of fans and media have been confused with the Josh Brown signing, but the Oilers see him as a roster player. The Oilers gave the 30 year old right shot defenceman a three year contract with just 290 NHL games. Perhaps the Oilers see him as someone able to play a big-body role on the blue line and penalty kill, which could be a valuable role in the playoffs.

Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott are two quality defenceman sitting on the outside who could step in at any minute in case of an injury. Both defenders are smaller, mobile, puck moving defenceman that have had success in hundreds of NHL games in their careers. It wouldn't be a bad idea just to keep both in the organization for depth. The Oilers have already made a commitment to keeping Stecher by signing him to a two year contract for $775K each year.

Coach Knoblauch showed last year that he loved to tweak the lines, so it's not likely that these pairings last all the way through the season. However, to start the year, it's interesting to see how the Oilers are internally ranking their defenders.