Edmonton - A good coach will preach the value of each player to their team.

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch proved himself in many ways. He became one of the most successful coaches of all time, mainly because of his savvy game adjustments and calm manners.

But he can only do a lot of things.

Eventually, the players on the ice are playing the game. That being said, Knoblauch squeezed out as much as he could with the players.

However, the obvious area requires oilers to enter the March trade deadline.

With recent losses to the Detroit Red Wing and Toronto maple leaves, it is clear that the Oilers have to settle before the trade deadline.

They will take a while.

The Oil Man has had a defensive problem for a while

The Oilers entered this season with the next seven defensemen: Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard, Nurse Darnell, Brett Kurak, Troy Steichel, Ty Emerberson and Travis Demott.

Knoblauch relies heavily on the team's best four defenders, Ekholm, Bouchard, Nurse and Kulak. Emberson proves that he deserves to deal with difficult tasks in critical situations, but the same rules as Kulak and Ekholm proves himself.

Dermott's loss and joining John Klingberg did not alleviate the problem either. Because these are the first few games of Klinberg's tenure since November 2023, it's no surprise that he's still ridding his rust after two appearances.

But what the crystal clears is that the Oiler needs another two-way defender.

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Mattias Ekholm is an oil worker MVP on Blueline

Ekholm missed Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs and anyone watching the game can see the impact of his losses.

Stecher and Emberson are usually the first players on the back end, and if the Oilers are chasing a game, their ice time will be reduced. That's definitely the case on Saturday night. Emberson hit 10:57, while Stecher hit 12:54.

It's not a pretty game for the Oiler Blue Line, but it's obvious that Ekholm's losses get a huge feel. He played for the team in all cases for many minutes.

Any damage from Ekholm that lasts more than a game or two is probably the worst thing that happens to the Oiler. Therefore, the team should get a defender with strong two-way capabilities.

The ideal candidate would be Ekholm's right-hand version, no matter who that player is.

Ekholm's value to the Oiler Blue Line cannot be underestimated - he is that good.