I think a cheap Hutton would be a very good option for any team looking for a 3rd pairing defenseman right now -- and EDM makes a lot of sense with Klefbom on LTIR for a while.

I'm not sure any forward will be signed in EDM unless a trade happens first -- they already have a lot of forward depth (not that I love that depth, but still). I can't see them making a move unless they're moving out a forward spot and some salary first. But Kahun is a great option for any team looking for a middle 6 forward -- I wish NSH signed him over Cousins.

Two smart targets for any team.

Yah, I’m surprised that he is available. I would love to have him on the oilers! As for Hutton, we don’t need him. We have Russell to play instead of him.

If you can get Hutton for cheap he would provide a solid safety net for the Oilers IF Jones or Russell falter. He is a underrated defenseman without a doubt.

Agreed. If one of those guys are out.

Totally agree, I think they are waiting on a few things: 1. Klefbom's injury status and 2. Chaisson trade & 3. Khaira trade. The 3rd doesn't really move the needle, at best it saves you 500K if you replace him with a league min player however the Klef INJ could equal LTIR and $4M additional cap and Chaisson will likely be dealt once the RFA signings are dealt with is my guess.

Which is precisely why the Oilers need a 3rd pairing LHD.

Two things stick out to me:

1. You've broken up the Dynamite line, Nuge-Drai-Yam. Kahun could try out on McDavid's left instead or really ramp up the 3rd scoring line with Turris and JP
2. Hutton is a bit redundant, lets just see how Rusky fares this year with either Barrie to cover for his defensive deficiencies, or with Jones to insulate the rookie

Unless there's a proven solution to breaking up that 2nd line, I would leave them alone. Try Kahun here and there, sure. But I would like to see our best line together for the majority of the season, and all of the'must-win' games this year.

I disagree. We have Russell.

What exactly does Russell bring to the table? His defence is decent at best, his offence is absolutely terrible and has no breakout. The guy simply isn’t NHL quality. Metrics back me up if I could figure out how to post it.

1. The Dynamite line is always on option to me and if Kahun or Ennis could mesh with 97 great; however, McDavid needs a skilled winger and Nuge is at this moment the best we have. 93 & 97 showed signs in the playoffs that they indeed could play together, so i say run with it but to each his own. That being said I do not want Kassian stapled to 97 this season.

2. I fail to see how Hutton is redundant, Jones is a rookie as is Lagesson (assuming they resign him) and some assurances on the left side would be nice. The RHD side is shaped up nicely with Bear, Larsson and Barrie (Bouchard will see sheltered minutes and opponents) Additionally Hutton > Russell, and would pair best with Larsson imo

Nurse, Jones & Russell is NOT good enough and lacks depth. Broberg and the kids aren't fixing that this upcoming season. Signing a vet like Hutton or Andy Greene to provide depth is the right play.
Not signing a depth player is the equivalent of Peter Chiarelli rolling into the 2017 or 2018 season with Rattie, Yama, Kass for RW depth

We know 93 can run with either 97 or 29. However, his effect on the game seems to be magnified if he plays alongside Drai and Yam. They played the best hockey of any trio we have bar none. Taking that away, as we've seen in the play-ins, was far more disastrous than having "two balanced lines".

McDavid is special in that he doesnt need linemates to produce. He doesnt need another star with him to be effective as seen when we had Maroon riding shotgun on his line. Yes, Nuge would be the best linemate than any of the other forwards not named Draisaitl and Yamamoto on the 1st line. Having McDavid even operating at 50% effectiveness on a line all by himself and having the most dangerous "2nd line" the league has seen in YEARS makes the Oilers a far more effective team 5v5.

As for Hutton, yes he's a better option than Russel, but the redundancy comes from the fact that he's going to be a 3rd pair guy anyway. Russel is a 3rd pair guy. Russel is a known commodity. Russel provides continuity with the coaching schemes. Better than bringing in yet another guy to learn Tipp's system all to play 13-14 minutes of icetime IF that. Question is, how much of an upgrade is Hutton than Russel at this point for an additional 1M just so you bench your defacto 3rd pairing LD?

It’s by watching him play. Who cares about metrics! He is very good defensively actually, he can play both sides, and constantly sacrifices his body to block shots. He is the exact key type of player a team needs if they want to go into the playoffs.

Hahaha!! Vet! Hutton isn’t a vet! Russell is better and is a bigger veteran then Hutton is. Greene sucks. He’s terrible. I don’t want him anywhere near the oilers. Russell is a depth player, so your Chiarelli point made zero sense what so ever, and wasn’t that valid.

Agree with most points regarding your take on the forward combos, however I wouldn't blame the forward core on the play-in mishap. Edmonton scored 15 goals yet gave up 16, to me that suggests defence and goaltending was the issue. IF EDM had been outscored 16-8 across the series I would agree that breaking up the Dynamite line was a mistake (Disaster seems dramatic).

Hutton at $1M, regardless of Russells $4M, is a absolute steal. He will impress you in his defensive ability and could play beyond his 3rd pair label. IF the logic to not sign a player is because the coaching staff would need to coach them then there are bigger issues at hand. As for the question " how much of an upgrade is Hutton than Russell" and cutting out the noise: Hutton will result in less time spent in EDMs zone because he can defend and transition the puck at a much higher rate than Russell, which likely means less goals against and better win probabilities.

My Question to you would be: IF Edmonton has the cap space to spend on a depth Dman, such as Hutton or Greene who likely slot as the 5-7th, why NOT provide themselves with a veteran assurance.

Ben Hutton has played 341 games in 5 seasons, with 2 teams ( average NHL career last 5 seasons). He is a NHL veteran despite your opinion.
By what metric is Russell a better defenceman than Hutton, genuinely what aspect of the game is Russell best at?

My point about Chairelli made zero sense? Going into a season with an AHL vet (Rattie), rookie (Yama) and 3rd-4th line fwd (Kassian) was setting them up for failure because it provided them no depth and no contingencies IF Yama wasn't ready for the NHL (sent down after 9 games), IF Rattie wasn't ready for top line duty (only played 14 games). So suggesting we don't need a depth signing because we have Russell is similar in that it provides NO depth and NO contingency if Jones struggles or god forbid someone got hurt. Lagesson might be an option however I trust Huttons 341 games over Lagessons 8 games.

What I meant about your point is it wasn’t even valid for what we were talking about. I know what he did. Russell is best at defence. I watch the games, so I know who is good and who isn’t.

A lot of fair points to be sure.

I'd circle back to Kahun having a try here and there on Drai's left, but when crap hits the fan and we need to win games and score goals, we need do defer to the Dynamite line without much second thought. The difference is that the trio is pretty much buzzing in the offensive zone almost the entire time, the chemistry between them clear and undeniable and they had great results to show for even just half a season together.

No, the Dynamite line being dismantled was't the Oilers undoing in the play-ins, but that definitely contributed to their downfall. When you need a big goal, when you need to hem the opponent in their own zone, when you need to build momentum, you can't rely on the breakaway as a counterattack or simply wait for the other team to make a mistake. You need controlled play 5v5 and to apply constant pressure as those 3 clearly do.

To me, if you're not pressuring the other team, you're giving them a chance to bounce back and capitalize on OUR mistakes, which the bottom 2 forward lines hand out like candy in addition to what the the top 2 "balanced" lines coughed up as well.

So instead of having one good McDavid line and one dominating Drai line, we had two good "balanced" lines that didnt exert as much pressure on Chicago.

Onto Hutton, there are still too many question marks before I'd even consider veteran insurance with a 6th or 7th dman.

1. Who plays 1st LW without breaking up 93-29-56
2. Which d-pairs are locked in?
3. How much money is left after Bear and possibly another fwd like Kahun?
4. Is there a taker for Russel to free up some cap and bring in another guy like Hutton?

There's room for one of them on this team, and while Russel is an Oiler, it's not wise to add in a part-time position when weve got holes someplace else that need solutions first.

How is that not valid?

Best at defence, OK, but which part? Cause he doesn't pass well, he's not overly physical, he doesn't break up many zone entries, he provides minimal offence and he does transport the puck well. So what specifically does he do well outside of blocking shots?

I also watch the games, that doesn't make us experts. There are metrics that can be used to re-enforce your logic or to disprove it. In this case it just seems like your worried about Russells job security where ALL I want to see is EDM not handcuff themselves by assuming their depth is fine as is because simply put it is NOT good enough at this point.

I’m worried about Russell’s job security? No I’m not. He’s good, just deal with it, and admit it. Saying what Chiarelli did doesn’t matter anymore. You gotta look into the future and work from there. Who cares what he did in 2017 with Yamamoto and Rattie and all of them. That’s off topic from Russell. I also never said that I was a expert. I said I watch the games so I know who good players are.

1. Who plays 1st LW without breaking up 93-29-56: Without signing another player best guess is Ennis
2. Which d-pairs are locked in? Beyond Bear and Nurse likely none are locks, everyone else will be juggled until matched
3. How much money is left after Bear and possibly another fwd like Kahun? Without sending a body out and not accounting for Nygard you are at best $2M once Klefbom placed on LTIR
4. Is there a taker for Russel to free up some cap and bring in another guy like Hutton? Absolutely not IMO, Russell controlled his destiny with the NMC/NTC, any potential taker was likely on his NTC.

There's room for one of them on this team, and while Russel is an Oiler, it's not wise to add in a part-time position when weve got holes someplace else that need solutions first
If adding one means you can't add the other than I chase Kahun (bigger need) however based on the market and the Klefbom LTIR situation EDM could afford both to shore up some depth issues they have

OK I admit that Kris Russell is good and would be the best player on my buddies beer league team. Dealt. But in seriousness it makes me happy that you can't even defend his best attributes by giving me one example where he shines.

You realize the Chiarelli comment is just an analogy, it's not off topic it is literally part of the topic of discussion. Having depth versus no depth is the point of signing Hutton, not signing him could leave EDM understaffed as Chiarelli did in 2017 when it came to his RW position and it cost them dearly.... you see what I mean? Also 99% of Oilers fans cared about how Chiarelli neglected and dismantled the Oilers (ie trading Eberle for Strome) so you'll be in the minority there slick.

No one can look into the future, how about worry about the here and now by fixing the current problems. Having the foresight of a long-term plan is key however the present can't be neglected. If you can look into the future can you tell me where Kris Russell will be playing next season?

I also watch the games; however, I know the bad players and Russell is bad. Sorry to break this to you today

I agree with you here. Kahun > Hutton as a team need.

However I'd roll
Kahun/Ennis-McDavid-Kassian/Pulju
Nuge-Drai-Yam
Kahun/Ennis-Turris-Kassian/Pullju
Neal-Khaira-Archi
Chais-Haas

Nurse-Bear
Jones-Larsson
Russ-Barrie
Laggesson

So yes, I agree. Unless bodies are shipping out, might as well target Kahun and if we do it's 1st or 3rd LW for that dude, with the occasional 2LW beside his bff Drai vs weaker teams.