Is the Oilers’ defence better than people think?

Many pundits are sleeping on the Edmonton Oilers’ defence.

If this group gels under Mike Babcock’s tighter checking system, it could be one of the best blue lines in the NHL. Their new coach is bringing a greater focus on team defence, and that should help bring goals against down. Edmonton gave up the most goals they had since 2018-19, which is crazy considering they were pretty good defensively the year before. It’s hard to imagine the goaltending will be as weak as it was either. With Tristan Jarry healthy and two good backup options (when Frederik Andersen is healthy), that should also help the defence. More forwards should also be coming back to help out, as Babcock has the team playing with fewer gaps.

One area the defence might lack is in physicality and aggression. Mattias Ekholm and Connor Murphy are clearly the hardest to play against. However, I think Jake Walman and Shakir Mukhamadullin can bring more to the fight, and Evan Bouchard and Ryan Shea don’t get pushed around.

Let’s take a closer look at what each player brings to the Oilers’ blueline:

Evan Bouchard

Bouchard is easily one of the top 10 defencemen in the league, maybe top five. He led all defence with 95 points last year. He runs the best power play in the history of the NHL and has his trademark ‘Bouchbomb’ for a shot. His defensive play can improve, and Edmonton’s new emphasis on defence should help. Babcock has given Bouchard a vote of confidence by making the quiet young man an assistant captain. In interviews in the preseason, the defender appears more mature and full of confidence.

Mattias Ekholm

Ekholm has had spectacular numbers since the Oilers acquired him in a trade in 2023. He is plus-115 with 133 points in 147 games with Edmonton. That plus-minus is the highest of any defenceman in the league since Ekholm joined the Oilers. He has been the ideal partner for Bouchard. They’ve outscored opponents by 71 goals at five-on-five, and posted a 60 per cent expected goal share in that time.

Some hockey analysts worry about a drop-off in his play now that he’s 36. However, that hasn’t happened yet. He’s still a top defender and not fun to play against. The experienced Swede has surprisingly good offensive instincts and is a team leader.

Jake Walman

Many people have written off No. 96 after a down year. However, he was dealing with some injuries and seemed to have found his game by the playoffs. The Toronto native put up four assists in six games against the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately, the playoffs were brief.

Walman is highly skilled: he skates well, he passes well, he’s got a good shot, and he can be physical. Not too many defences in the NHL have two players who can blast slapshots over 100mph like Walman and Bouchard. The two-way defender is also the kind of player that can inspire his team. When Walman is on, he leads by example.

Connor Murphy

Murphy is one of the best defensive defencemen in the NHL. He’s hard to play against and is in unreal shape. According to Ryan Rishaug, he was barely winded in early training camp drills when the other defencemen were hunched over. Murphy was acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline last season, and a full season of him in the top six should make a huge difference.

He has unreal defensive stats when you look closely at the underlying numbers. NHL_Sid wrote about Murphy in the spring:

In the past 10 years, Murphy’s defensive impact has ranked above the 63rd percentile in nine of them. It has exceeded the 80th percentile on numerous occasions as well, and in fact, this past season in 2025-26, Murphy ranked fourth among all defencemen with an EVD of +9.4. To put that into perspective, in the entirety of the analytics era (post-2007), only 11 other defencemen have had an EVD rating higher than 9.4 in a single season, names like Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Niklas Hjalmarsson in their primes.

Ryan Shea

The smooth-skating American had a breakout year in 2026-27. Ryan Shea has impressed in the pre-season, with many people comparing him to Bouchard. Both are intelligent, calm individuals with high offensive upside. Shea is an average skater compared to other defenders but seems to get around well.

His numbers with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year were really good. In 2025-26, Shea had 35 points and was a plus-30 in 80 games. This year he’ll probably start lower down the lineup in Edmonton and has a chance to take advantage of weaker competition. With Shea on the third pair, the Oilers have a plethora of puck-moving defencemen.

Shakir Mukhamadullin

When the Oilers traded Darnell Nurse this summer, many fans were happy the team had gotten out from under his big contract. Most people didn’t notice the defenceman that Edmonton got back in the deal, and Shakir Mukhamadullin is a relatively unknown quantity. He’s much bigger than people realize, and Babcock has been impressed. The young Russian moves well for his size and gets the puck out of the zone quickly. He does need to play more physically on a consistent basis but has lots of potential. Spencer Pomoty wrote about Mukhamadullin in his prospect countdown and speculated he could even become a number four defenceman in a couple of years.

Ty Emberson

Mukhamadullin has bumped Ty Emberson into the seventh spot on the depth chart. However, Emberson is a solid bottom pairing option. He plays bigger than he is, and is quite mobile. Emberson seemed to be finding his game last year and is part of a fierce competition for places on the Oilers’ third defence pair.

The team also has several depth defencemen

Spencer Stastney is a similar player to Emberson and is a good call-up option. A good skating defender who plays a simple game.

Atro Leppanen is one of three new offensive defencemen who impressed in the pre-season. He ran the power play for the Bakersfield Condors and had a solid year in the AHL.

Damian Carfagna emerged as the top defender on the Condors when Leppanen was injured last year. He is another one of many good skating, offensive defencemen in the organization.

Tomas Cibulka came over from Czechia this year and hasn’t looked out of place. He is yet another good call-up option as he’s another smart, mobile, offensive defender.

Will they play up to their potential?

It’s ‘show me’ time for Edmonton’s roster. If the defence plays up to its capabilities, the Oilers are going to surprise some people.

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