Right now, if the Oilers have a positional weakness, it’s goaltending. This is largely because of bad contracts handed out, free agents who didn’t pan out over the long term, and failure at drafting and developing goaltenders. However, there’s a good chance this could change over the next two seasons. The Oilers have more organizational depth at goaltender than they’ve had since the 80s, maybe even ever.
The list includes failed draft picks like Joaquin Gage and Dylan Wells. Guys that did well for one or two seasons and then fizzled out, like Cam Talbot and Mathieu Garon. Outside hires like Dwayne Roloson and a past his prime Nikolai Khabibulin were out of the organization for the same reason. The only Oilers goalie that has had long-term success in recent memory is Devan Dubnyk – and most of that he had with other organizations.
This will slowly change over the next couple of seasons as prospects ripen to being NHL ready, and should hit their stride right around when the NHL’s cap should be going up significantly again like it did when it was first brought in.
Let’s look at the depth chart now.
The incumbents
1. The first option – Mike Smith
Smith had a season nobody expected last year, even good enough to garner a handful of Vezina Trophy votes. By logic, he should be retired by now, but the Oilers didn’t re-up him for another two seasons for nothing. He’s a great leader in the room, and if he can prove last season wasn’t a fluke, the Oilers will have at least one goalie in the short term they can rely on consistently.
Only time will tell whether Smith can do it again, but he’s coming in determined and freshly minted to a contract with term he wanted, so he’s happy and he wants to win a cup so he’s motivated. He’ll probably retire if he wins a cup before his contract is over.