The Oilers watched two key defenseman -- Lubomir Visnovsky and Denis Grebeshkov -- go down with injuries, and are likely to add depth to their blue-line. Edmonton will likely scour the waiver wire or look at unrestricted free-agent defensemen. They may even look for more than one player because they are down to five proven blue-liners.

A number of impact players will become free agents at the end of the NHL season. Some of the biggest names include: Maxim Afinogenov, Michael Cammalleri, Marian Gaborik, Alex Kovalev, Miroslav Satan, and Johan Franzen.