Gulitti: Goaltending remains the Oilers' biggest question mark, but it's unlikely they're going to acquire another goalie after signing Jack Campbell to a five-year, $25 million contract in the offseason. There doesn't appear to be a clear-cut upgrade in net available anyway, so I think Edmonton should try to add another top six forward to strengthen its depth and, potentially, allow Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to play on the same line more often. McDavid and Draisaitl on separate lines are difficult to slow down, but almost impossible to stop when they play together, so if the Oilers can add another skilled wing to play at times with center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the second line, that will make them much harder to check. Regardless, with Evander Kane missing so much time this season and out again with an upper-body injury, adding another skilled forward with speed would be helpful. After McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, the Oilers don't have another forward with at least 20 points.
Zeisberger: I agree, Tom. The Oilers could use an upgrade in goal, but it's likely unrealistic for the reasons you listed. As a result, for me the band-aid solution is adding help to the blue line, preferably a top-four defenseman. A game like their 6-5 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday symbolizes how much of a need there is. Scoring five goals should be enough to win games. It wasn't. You might not believe in plus-minus, but the numbers are what they are. On a high-scoring team like this, defenseman Tyson Barrie is minus-3 and defenseman Evan Bouchard is minus-7. Unlike the Eastern Conference, which has about six powerhouses, the Western Conference is wide open. Strengthening the defense would go a long way to allow the Oilers to go a long way.
Gulitti: There's no denying the loss to the Blue Jackets exposed the Oilers' defensive warts. But defense is a team game, including the forwards helping the defensemen, and Edmonton must get back to playing as a five-man unit, like it did at the end of last season, to have any success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. In the postseason, scoring depth is equally important and it seems like the Oilers are still too top heavy at forward. Kane getting healthy might not be enough. As much as the Oilers offense goes through McDavid and Draisaitl, it's often the other players who score the biggest goals in the playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche looked like they had plenty of offense last season but added Artturi Lehkonen in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens before the deadline. Lehkonen ended up leading the playoffs with four game-winning goals, including the Stanley Cup-winning goal. Edmonton could use a player like that.
Zeisberger: Colorado also addressed its defense at the deadline last year by bringing in Josh Manson from Anaheim to augment an existing core that already featured Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Bowen Byram and Samuel Girard. The Oilers defense is nowhere near as deep. I think San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has a no-trade clause in the eight-year contract he signed with the Sharks on June 17, 2019, would cost too much for the Oilers, against the NHL salary cap and trade currency. But what about Vladislav Gavrikov of the Blue Jackets? Or Jakob Chychrun of the Arizona Coyotes? The intrigue builds. This much is certain: If the Oilers realistically are to go on a deep playoff run, they'll need to spruce up the blue line in order to deal with teams like the Avalanche, who are starting to play like a team hungry to repeat.
