Oilers have 4 defensemen in the AHL that are 22 and over. They are going to have to start moving upwards into the NHL. Persson, Lagesson, Bear and Jones are wavier eligible in the 2020-21 season. Meaning really, that this coming year, Oilers are going to have to have a long look to see what they have in these four at the NHL level. They either use them, lose them, or trade them.
So when you think about it, while it may not be the best thing team standings wise this year, but to set themselves up for 2020-21 some of this defensemen need to graduate, they can't all come up from the AHL in the 2020-21 season