The Edmonton Oilers’ general manager is “more aggressively” looking for blueline help after the Connor McDavid scare.

Today, Darren Dreger from The Nielson Show on TSN broke the news that Oilers GM Stan Bowman is stepping up his efforts to get the team another defenseman.

In terms of defense, Dreger said, “I think that’s going to be a problem area for a good chunk of the year.” For the first five or six games of the season, I think Stan Bowman told his players, “OK, everyone just slow down here.” It’s not our five, six, or seven d-men who aren’t doing their jobs; it’s our top guys. Yes, that is still true in some situations, but word on the street is that he is working harder to get help, right? And other teams are too, because of illness and other problems. Anything magical coming from the General Manager’s office right now? No, but I do believe this team has what it takes to be much better than what we’ve seen so far.

1. Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, who play defense together, are doing great. Brett Kulak and Ty Emberson, who play defense together, are also doing well. The defensive mistakes made by Darnell Nurse are similar to those made in the 2024 playoffs: they happen way too often, way too often for a Top 4 d-man. In his own end, Troy Stecher has done well playing with Nurse, but Travis Dermott has had a hard time in a small part.

2. Right now, the Oilers don’t have enough speed and strength. Can they quickly find a d-man with those qualities to pair with Nurse? That deal won’t go well. A player like that will cost the sun, the moon, and all the stars, at least if he can pass the puck well. It might be a better idea to give Kulak and Emberson more minutes as the second pair. Either do that or finally get Kulak or Nurse to agree to play the right side, then put them together with Nurse. Nurse is having a hard time, so you might want to move him over since he’s not having the success he needs right now.

3. If Edmonton wants to add a left-shot defenseman, which is possible if either Kulak or Nurse can do well on the right side, there are a few good players who might be available. New trade targets from The Athletic include left-shot defenseman Ivan Provorov of Columbus, left-shot forward Cam Fowler of Anaheim, right-shot forward Timothy Liljegren of Toronto, right-shot forward Cody Ceci seventh overall, and right-shot forward Rasmus Ristolainen eighth overall. The Oilers can’t afford some of these players’ contracts, but maybe other teams will be willing to take on some of that pay to help them stay within their salary caps.

4. At the forward spot, calls Soon enough, Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp will be here. It’s easy to see Caggiula and Philp filling in for Corey Perry and Derek Ryan on the fourth line, giving the Oilers their speed and drive that they’re missing up front. It is not reasonable to expect the two seniors to play in every game. The older veterans don’t bring enough speed and drive to make up for Edmonton’s lack of those traits.

Connor McDavid’s injury hasn’t been reported yet, and a lot depends on that. Wednesday might be a good day to hear more.