Another NHL analyst has shocking rank for Edmonton Oilers defence in new rankings

The study, titled Talent Tiers: Defenseman (2025-26) has the Oilers ranked in first, and top Tier, together with Colorado, Carolina, Dallas, and Ottawa, clubs that are known for their strong defensive play.

In the 5th and last tier of the study, TSN projected Anaheim and San Jose as having the worst defensive depth in the NHL.

In recent years, the Oilers have made significant strides in their defensive play, becoming a more structured and balanced team, a key factor in their emergence as Stanley Cup contenders, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Yet, despite the key improvements on their defense, the Oilers are still lacking depth on the right-side, an area that resulted in defensive breakdowns last season, in particular with the Darnell Nurse pairing.

Beyond Evan Bouchard, the right-side D depth chart grows thin, and will continue to be a problem if GM Stan Bowman does not address the issue before the start of the 20258-26 season.

The 1st D-pairing of Bouchard/Ekholm is as good as any in the league, even better. According to PuckPedia the next parings are as follows:

Darnell Nurse (LD)/Brett Kulak (RD)
Jake Walman (LD)/Troy Stecher (RD)

Depth: Ty Emberson, Josh Brown

Of course, the parings will change depending with whom you speak; but on one thing they all agree: Oilers are week on the right side, as per reports.

Jake Walman could play on the right side of the 2nd line with Nurse, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given his strong play last year. He's been one of the team's most consistent defenders since being acquired at last year's trade deadline, and impressed in the playoffs also.

Yet, it's clear that the Oilers are more comfortable having Walman on his natural side, which was evident in the post-season, where he helped solidify a strong pairing next to John Klingberg.

These are all issues that Stan Bowman and head coach Kris Knoblauch must resolve as the new season approaches, despite the Oilers D-lineup being a solid one - it has helped the Oilers reach the Finals in two-straight years, and with some tweaking could go all the way next year.