Top to bottom that was the worst performance by the defense as a group in the last 5 years at least. Cody Ceci was his usual steady self, but other than that Lagesson might have been the best d man. Let that sink in.
The way this dog shit defense group is constructed there is no way out until personnel moves are made.
Bouchard should not be anywhere near the top pair, but he kind of has to be. Barrie is even worse than him in that role, but you can't take Ceci away from Keith, because Keith with either Boucahard or Barrie would be an even bigger disaster than Barrie on the top pair. So you're stuck. The answer is acquire a value right shot d that isn't spectacular, but doesn't barf on himself left right and center to play with Nurse. Nurse doesn't need a real top 4 partner, he just needs a guy that doesn't require baby sitting in his own end. Then that pushes Bouchard down to the 3rd pair to play a sheltered role where he belongs and hopefully pushes Barrie the f*** out of the lineup.
The Oilers don't need a top flight guy to at least get them not shooting themselves in the foot anymore, they just need a body that is somewhat responsible defensively on the right side. Long term solution? No, but this would help us now and shouldn't be that complicated to pull off. Except for our dumbass GM.
