NHL rumors: Oilers will add defenseman on PTO after Ceci, Broberg departures

The Edmonton Oilers’ blue line looks a whole lot different than it did a week ago. After Philip Broberg was shockingly offer sheeted by the St. Louis Blues — a contract the front office didn’t match — Cody Ceci was shipped to the San Jose Sharks shortly after.

And with that, two players who were impactful in the Oilers’ thrilling march to the Stanley Cup Final are no longer part of the equation. Daily Faceoff currently projects the team’s third pairing as Josh Brown and Ty Emberson, the latter coming over in the trade that sent Ceci to California.

That’s probably not going to cut it for a team that is still firmly in Stanley Cup or bust territory in 2025, and there are rumblings that the team could bring in a D-man on a professional tryout offer. The right side of the Oilers’ defense looks much weaker without Broberg and Ceci, and the team is still working with just under $1 million in cap space, according to Puck Pedia.

“It would not surprise me if [the Oilers] are having an internal discussion on whether or not they need to add one more potential puck mover – and likely a right shot if they do (I don’t know if they’re going to act on it or not)” Oilers color commentator Bob Stauffer said earlier this week on the What Chaos! podcast.

A very likely candidate for that PTO is former Oiler Tyson Barrie, who is currently an unrestricted free agent.

Is a Tyson Barrie return in the cards?

“Oilers are keeping all their options open on PTOs but they’ve already had conversations with Tyson Barrie,” reported TSN 1260’s Dustin Nielson on Wednesday. “They love him in the room, is he a fit on the ice with the way the blueline is currently built?”

Barrie is coming off a disappointing campaign with the Nashville Predators; the offensive D-man managed just 15 points in 41 games, and he was scratched by the Preds earlier in December. It’s almost certain that Barrie will not return to Smashville, but what about the club where he played nearly three full seasons from 2020-22?

Barrie was originally on the other end of the trade package that sent Mattias Ekholm to Alberta. If Edmonton does go this route, it gives the team a ton more flexibility to move Brett Kulak and Darnell Nurse around.

Kulak and Barrie formed a serviceable third pairing together, and that could be the case again if Barrie is given another opportunity with the franchise. It’s looking increasingly likely that Barrie will at least get tryout, but if the front office goes a different route, they could look into veterans Justin Schultz or Kevin Shattenkirk instead.

Unless the Oilers believe that their current D-core can get the job done until next year’s trade deadline, at least one defenseman will be joining the squad in their quest to return to the Stanley Cup Final in 2025.

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