EDMONTON — We talk a lot in Edmonton about the importance of defencemen who can get pucks to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — quickly and on the tape.

A high-calibre outlet pass is like oxygen for hockey’s top players. Without it, they choke.

But guess what? Don Jackson has left the building.

It’s not like the fan bases in other NHL towns are looking for off-the-glass D-men who are holdovers from 1984.

“Every team's got star players,” said D.J. Smith, the associate coach in charge of Edmonton defensive corps. “Now, our star players are some of the league's best — if not the best — but it doesn't change. The top players want the puck.”

Smith has been around now, from a gig as Mike Babcock’s assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, to five years as a head coach in Ottawa, to a couple of years with the Los Angeles Kings. He’s heard and seen more than most.

“When (Artemi) Panarin got traded to L.A., he's got to get a guy to get him the puck (Drew Doughty). When I was in Ottawa, (Tim) Stutzle and (Brady) Tkachuk and (Drake) Batherson — they needed a guy to get them the puck, which was (Thomas) Chabot. So wherever you go, the top guys are only open for a brief second. If you hold on to the puck too long and you can't move pucks, the big guys don't get the puck.”

Here in Edmonton, Evan Bouchard is the one who starts plays in the right direction. He’s already played 54 minutes with McDavid in three games, and the reason for that is simple: He’s very........

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