The Re-Signing of Andy Sutton and What Does It Mean?

Andy Sutton signed a 1 year deal worth 1.75 million (1.5 base + 250K bonus for games played) today. As a stand alone signing, its a solid signing. Sutton plays tough as nails and brings a fear element to the Oilers D that it badly needs. The money is good for a veteran Dman like himself.

Where the problem arises is the depth chart is filling up fast. It looks like this going into next year.

Whitney-Petry
Smid-Gilbert
Sutton-Potter
Peckham

The Oilers still need to make some tweaks to the top end of the lineup. Petry, at this stage would likely be better being a 5-6 Dman going into next year. It would be better for him and better for the team. If any of the top 4 Dmen get hurt, the Oilers are out and out screwed. Sutton, Potter and Peckham cannot play any higher in the lineup and ask for the team to have success. Even though the Oilers D have all the spots filled, they are still looking for a top 4 pairing Dman, preferably top 2. With Ryan Whitney injury issues, relying on him to carry the mail long term could be trouble. If the Oilers land their big fish Dman, what does it mean for Theo Peckham? I had Theo Peckham taking Andy Sutton's spot next year. Theo Peckham seems to be buried in the mire of subpar Dmen the Oilers currently have. If the Oilers are trying to develop Peckham, he needs reps. If the Oilers are trying to ship Peckham out, I think they are making a big mistake. The Oilers don't have a a good pipeline on tough Dmen coming through the ranks. Alex Plante's shelf life is about to expire. Colten Teubert while tough, isn't exactly mean, nor fill a ton of fear into people and he is a long term work in progress. Barring that, they have David Musil who is years down the pipeline. Throughout all of this, I'm hoping Theo Peckham isn't a casualty of this signing, it has the feel of the Matt Greene situation all over again. Theo Peckham needs to get back to being his nasty old self. As for Cam Barker, he will be a casualty of all of this.

Bottom line is, the Oilers still need to continue the hunt for a top tier Dman and I'm hoping Theo Peckham isn't a casualty of the Andy Sutton signing.