A new report has come out that has linked the Edmonton Oilers to a pair of players that could help fix the Edmonton Oilers defensive unit. It is no secret that the Edmonton Oilers have greatly struggled throughout the first 3 games of the season. While their starts up front have not been playing at the MVP level many expect the real problem is in their own end. Through three games the Edmonton Oilers have given up 4 or more goals in every single game. The offense will eventually come around due to the talent in the room with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The same cannot be said for the defense. Beyond having Evan Bouchard who still has his problems defensively and Mattias Ekholm who is now 34 years old the <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/edmonton-oilers/nhl-insider-reveals-the-reason-behind-oilers-slow-start-for-second-year-in-a-row' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Edmonton Oilers are severely lacking of talent on defense.</a> With this identified a new report has revealed a couple of options the Oilers could pick from in free agency to fill in the gaps. A report has come in this afternoon from Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal discussing the Edmonton Oilers' options on defense. According to his sources, two names have come up in connection to the Oilers Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Schultz. The name Kevin Shattenkirk resurfaced again this past week. I wrote about Shattenkirk two weeks ago, as well as former Oiler Justin Schultz who was offered a PTO in Edmonton but was looking for a contract (and still is). I am cautious of Shattenkirk. He has had a good NHL career but does not skate well anymore, never was a terrific defender and saw primarily sheltered minutes in Boston last year.» - Kurt Leavins, Edmonton Journal Both players are past their prime most certainly but do have Stanley Cup pedigree and an ability to move pucks in a depth role. Neither Kevin Shattenkirk or Justin Schultz have ever been defensive studs but are talent upgrades over the current depth defensemen on the Oilers. Justin Schultz of course has familiarity with the Edmonton Oilers organization after being drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round of the 2008 NHL Draft. After spending several years in college <a href='https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1245385-wisconsins-schultz-spurns-anaheim-ducks-signs-with-edmonton-oilers' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Schultz refused to sign with the Anaheim</a> and instead signed with the Edmonton Oilers. He would spend 4 seasons in the Edmonton Oilers organization before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he would win 2 Stanley Cups. Kevin Shattenkirk is a name that Edmonton Oilers fans have heard connected to the team before. Just before the season was about to get underway reports indicated that <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl/news/kevin-shattenkirk-among-several-veterans-reportedly-eager-to-join-edmonton-oilers' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Shattenkirk was open to signing with the Oilers.</a> It seems that at the time the Oilers passed but maybe they would reconsider now after such struggles. A signing like this would allow the Oilers to send a player like Ty Emberson back to the AHL who at 24 years old is still developing his game and needs to be playing every night. This move of course would mostly be a bandaid until a potentially bigger move could be made to fix their defense as a whole. With just over a million dollars in salary cap space the Edmonton Oilers could make something work and load the contract with performance bonuses based on games played or other metrics.