Oilers expected to scratch defenceman, get another blueliner back from injury
Photo credit: Edmonton Oilers Raw
The Edmonton Oilers will be playing a critical Game 4 of their playoff against Los Angeles tonight, and seem to be preparing for Troy Stecher to enter the lineup over Ty Emberson.
Emberson has just been re-signed by the Oilers to a two year contract at $1.3M a year. He's a quality young player, but may still be adjusting to the playoffs.
Oilers analysts believe Ty Emberson is in line to become healthy scratch for Troy Stecher return
At Oilers practice yesterday, Coach Knoblauch confirmed that Troy Stecher has been cleared to return.
Ty Emberson played less than 10 minutes last game and has been used in limited opportunities, so he seems to be the most likely player to come out of the lineup.
The 31 year old veteran Stecher has played 560 career NHL games, dwarfing the experience of Emberson. Through this season, Stecher has often been the team's most reliable 7th defenceman - and is worth a look in the playoff lineup.
While it may be a solid move to get Stecher into the lineup, taking out Emberson may cause some difficulties on the penalty kill.
It's possible the Oilers could consider instead running 11 forwards and 7 defenceman. That would cause another tough choice to scratch a regular forward.
Even around the margins in the playoffs, every lineup decision can become crucial. Coach Knoblauch will have a tough decision to make with his deployment now that Stecher is healthy.
The Oilers are playing heavily shorthanded without Mattias Ekholm on their blue line, who has been ruled out for the first round and likely beyond that as well.
Hopefully the Oilers depth can piece together a solid blue line, and they can play long enough to get Ekholm back from injury.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 27 | 788 ANSWERS Oilers expected to scratch defenceman, get another blueliner back from injury Do you think the Oilers should play Stecher over Emberson? | ||
| Yes | 482 | 61.2 % |
| No | 306 | 38.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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