Oilers To Turn Attention To 2 Other Areas After Perry Addition

Over the past couple of days, the Edmonton Oilers have brought up Dylan Holloway and signed Corey Perry, bolstering their bottom-six without spending any assets. For a team that is on a 13-game winning streak and is 21-3-0 in their past 24 games, making the team better before anyone else is a nice step forward.

After these moves that should remain permanent for the rest of the season, what else is there to do for Edmonton? Some say that a top-six forward is still needed, but I'd argue that by saying with limited cap space, a top-four right defenseman and a backup goaltender is a more pressing concern.

There have been obvious struggles from Cody Ceci alongside Darnell Nurse in the top-four for the Oilers longer than just this season. On a Stanley Cup contender, Ceci is not a top-four defenseman. There are options out there that the Oilers should be able to get at half of their salary for the remainder of the season with Ceci going back, but it will cost a bit. It is very much worth it for Edmonton to remove Ceci from that pairing since it hasn't worked and there is still one more year left on his contract.

As for the goaltending, Stuart Skinner has more than proven that he is up to the task of a number one goaltender. This should take some names off of the board that the Oilers might have been linked to beforehand. The Oilers are tight on cap space as I've noted, so a cheap second option in net for this season and maybe next too would be very beneficial. There are some options around the league, but if the Oilers are going to do something, it would have to be an upgrade over Calvin Pickard, Jack Campbell, and Olivier Rodrigue, or it is just a waste of assets. If the Oilers are going to bring someone in, it should be before their schedule gets really hectic.

Having gone through what the Oilers really need now, I think they are fully capable of turning their attention elsewhere other than adding another forward. The lines have been working well and will only get better with more time to gain chemistry.