Edmonton Oilers found under the radar steal in trade for defenceman

Stastney was traded to the Oilers by Nashville for a 3rd-round pick. He is in year 2 of a 2-year deal at a cap hit of $825K, set to become a free agent in the summer.

Though he's only played 85 career games, the 25-year old left-defenseman has shown he can compete at a high-level.

In the Oilers versus Pens game on December 16, when Spencer was on the ice at 5v5, Edmonton held an 11-4 advantage in scoring chances. That is just one game, of course.

When you look at Spencer's weighted WAR metric over the last three-years, right away his value stands out, with an 82% above replacement. With him on the ice, the team has chance of winning.

Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is a metric used in to estimate the value of an individual player in terms of how many more wins they provide to their team compared to a "replacement level" player.

One of Stastney's greatest strengths is his skating ability. His top skating speed this year is 21.94 MPH, ranking in the NHL's 70th percentile, which he does consistently.

He's recorded 38 speed bursts over 20 MPH this year, placing him in the 93rd percentile in the NHL.

Stastney call also pass the puck well. Wherever he's played, his point totals always included a high percentage of assists, though he is by and large a defensive-defenseman.

All in all, Spencer is well positioned to succeed on an Oilers team that moves the puck and relies on its superior skating ability to win games.