The Edmonton Oilers have already made a key signing to bolster their back end, signing veteran Swedish defenseman John Klingberg to a one-year, pro-rated contract for the remainder of the 2024-25 NHL season.

But is general manager Stan Bowman finished adding? According to NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun, looks as though he could be interested in acquiring additional defensive help as he wrote recently via The New York Times.

“With playoff depth in mind, the Oilers could very well add another defender before the March 7 trade deadline even after the John Klingberg signing Friday.

It’s possible the focus there would be more for a shutdown/penalty-killing type. Having said that, after a slow start to the season, Edmonton’s PK is top five in the league since November. Mattias Ekholm and Ty Emberson are tops among defensemen in penalty-kill usage, followed by Brett Kulak and Darnell Nurse — and those four overall have been really good. So it’s not an urgent need as much as it wouldn’t hurt to add depth there.

As it stands now — and injuries can change things — the Oilers are thinking more along the lines of a depth-type add than a bigger name. They feel they have seven solid guys. With a long playoff run again in mind, depth on the blue line is never a bad idea.”

The Oilers lost their first game without captain Connor McDavid on Tuesday night against the Washington Capitals; they'll attempt to get back into the win column when they take on the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday in a rematch of Saturday night's hotly-contested matchup.

The Edmonton Oilers are the reigning Western Conference champions

The Oilers, who made a run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last spring, acquired multiple new players at last season's NHL Trade Deadline.

They acquired veteran forward Adam Henrique along with forward Sam Carrick (now with the New York Rangers). Additionally, the Oilers also traded for depth defenseman Troy Stetcher, who is still with the team.