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The Edmonton Oilers still have a major problem on the blueline. They entered the off-season with perhaps the worst group of puck-moving defencemen in the NHL and they’ve so far failed to fix the problem.

Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli has done well to bring more balance to the Oilers roster, but this is unfinished business.

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Chiarelli acquired defenceman Adam Larsson, who should fill the gaping hole at right defence on Edmonton’s top-pairing. But Larsson is an outstanding defensive defenceman, not a great puck-mover. He’s an OK skater and passer. He can make a sharp pass right on the tape, but he’s not one to rush the puck. He moves the puck about as well as Brandon Davidson, Oscar Klefbom or Andrej Sekera, so he’s OK-to-good, but not elite. He’s certainly no power play specialist.

Edmonton still lacks an elite puck-mover and power play ace in their Top 4. That might be acceptable but things get markedly worse at the bottom end of the line-up. By eye and by almost any individual puck-moving statistic you will find, Mark Fayne and Darnell Nurse both struggled immensely to effectively move the puck last season.