When Mattias Ekholm returns, the Oilers lineup decision is simple: run 11 forwards and seven defencemen

When Mattias Ekholm returns to the Edmonton Oilers lineup, the team has quite the predicament on their hands.

Where does their best all-around defenceman fit?

It’s been nearly two months since he was healthy, and at times over that stretch it felt like he couldn’t come back soon enough. But when he did in a mid-April game against the Sharks, he only ended up re-aggravating his lower-body ailment — so much so that there was concern he could miss the remainder of the season.

There were times over that stretch where the defensive core looked shaky, only for the playoffs to roll around and it to be amplified with some rough own-zone play by the blue liners. But that’s changed in a big way.

Evan Bouchard has had another coming out party in the playoffs not just offensively, but defensively too, while his partner Brett Kulak continues to be a jack-of-all-trades for this group. Jake Walman and John Klingberg have been a revelation together, most importantly, Darnell Nurse’s game has begun to settle down.

That’s in thanks to the play of one Troy Stecher, who has become a defacto Nurse whisperer, helping settle down his game and provide the Oilers with strong results.

In Nurse’s 226 five-on-five minutes in these playoffs without Stecher, the Oilers have been outscored 14-10 for a 41.7 percent goal share, controlling just 48.7 perent of the expected goal share, and 48.9 percent of the scoring chance share.

And while the sample size of Stecher with Nurse is small — just under 62 minutes — they’ve outscored the opposition 2-0, controlling 58.7 percent of the expected goal share. and 57.9 percent of the scoring chance share.

That’s a major swing in the right direction.

But for as good as Stecher has played with Nurse in these playoffs, he knows that when Ekholm returns to the lineup, he could be the odd man out.

“I want him healthy and I want him to help us win,” a humble Stecher told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector Monday. “He’s a better player than I am. That’s just the reality of the world.”

Stecher would emphasize to Spector his one desire: “I just want to win a Stanley Cup, man.”

“Obviously I want to be in the lineup … (and) I’m going to do everything in my power to prove to the coaches I deserve to play. But the most important thing is just winning hockey games.”

And despite some honesty from Stecher, there’s a scenario where he can — and should — remain in the lineup: by the Oilers running 11 forwards and seven defencemen.

The reason is two-fold. On one hand, keeping Stecher in the lineup allows him to continue to contribute on the ice as he has in this series against the Stars, and it gives Ekholm a chance to ease back into the lineup. While the Oilers have seen the likes of Evander Kane contribute in a big way after a lot of time off, the coaching staff eased him into the lineup early in that series against the Kings.

Ekholm and Nurse posted strong results this season in 69 five-on-five minutes, breaking even in goal share at 6-6, but they controlled 58.7 percent of the expected goal share  and 55.7 percent of the scoring chance share. Ekholm and Stecher could rotate in at five-on-five, and it would allow the Oilers to utilize Ekholm on the penalty kill. It’s something Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said ahead of the series could be a possibility for Ekholm when he returns.

“Fortunately, we’ve got a group of defencemen right now who are playing really well, and we’re not in dire need to insert him when he’s not ready, but I think when he does play, it will be beneficial for us,” he said. “I think the biggest part for us — the five-on-five play, yes, but also the penalty kill. He’s been a mainstay, he’s been our best penalty killer from what I’ve seen for two years. Having him be available for that will be important for us.”

On the other hand, it affords a chance to tighten up some of their usage in the forward group. The likes of Corey Perry and Trent Frederic have seen their ice-time dip from the second round against Vegas, and in Perry’s case — after scoring three goals and five points against the Golden Knights — has barely sniffed the net against the Stars.

And while he’s gotten back to laying the body a bit more in the Western Conference Final, he has been easy to miss on the ice.

It would afford the Oilers the chance to double shift the likes of a Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — all of whom have been playing great this round — as well as keeping Mattias Janmark out of the faceoff circle, as he’s lost all nine faceoffs he’s taken this series, and is just 21.6 percent in the dot in the playoffs.

Of course, this conversation could all be for naught if the Oilers feel Ekholm is back up to 100 percent and able to handle a larger workload. In that case, Stecher — for as much as he’s shown he can play in these playoffs — could slide out, opening up the chance for Ekholm to return to his spot alongside Bouchard, or play alongside Nurse.