Edmonton Oilers Free Agency: Top 3 Goalies Worth Signing

NHL free agency starts the Wednesday and the Edmonton Oilers still have a hole between the pipes that needs to be filled.

The Edmonton Oilers have been trying to add a solid starting goalie for the last several offseasons. Two years ago they missed out on Jacob Markstrom when he chose to sign with the Calgary Flames.

Last year they missed out on Darcy Kuemper, as they weren’t willing to give up as much as the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes. I’m not saying if the Edmonton Oilers had Kuemper that they would have won the cup, but it wouldn’t have hurt their chances.

On Wednesday Ken Holland cannot come out of that day without a starting goalie. The last couple seasons they have had Mike Smith and Mikko Koskienen to fall back on, this season they don’t.

Mike Smith may not be able to play this season due to an injury. Mikko Koskinen has signed a contract on the other side of the pond. This means all the Edmonton Oilers got is Stuart Skinner.

Skinner is a solid goaltender that has the potential to be a starter in couple years, but right now he is too young. He will need a couple years of backing up to get the experience needed to take over the starting spot.

That being said if the Oilers sign a goalie and Skinner comes to camp is better, I am not opposed of him getting more games. I am a believer of playing the batter player at all times. Experience or not it a player gives you better chance to win he plays, veteran or not.

I just don’t think the Edmonton Oilers organization can take a chance on Skinner being a starter, nor do the fans. They have been waiting for a goalie ever since Cam Talbot was traded away.

Ever since that season we have never came into the season without a question mark in net. This is why Ken Holland needs to get one of the available goalies on the market. I have took a look at the UFA goalie list, as I’m sure most people have, and here is the top 3 on my list.

Darcy Kuemper

The biggest fish in the goaltender UFA market is Stanley Cup winner Darcy Kuemper. He is the top option in my opinion for the Edmonton Oilers in my opinion. Ken Holland has a history of bringing in players with a history of winning. Kuemper has a very recent history of winning.

The Edmonton Oilers missed out on Kuemper last offseason and I think it would be a mistake if they were to miss out on him for a second time. Kuemper was able to take a Colorado team that had been struggling in the net for the past couple years and take them to league champions.

This is exactly the scenario for the Edmonton Oilers. They have a good offensive team, but they never have had a goalie to trust in the net. The last few season they have had Smith who either plays really good, or plays terrible. If not Smith they had Koskinen who may have played really good, but he never played really bad.

Kuemper gives the Oilers a goalie who has a very constant average over his career has averaged a 0.918 SV%. In his last 4 seasons he has had a SV% of 0.921%(COL), 0.907%(ARI), 0.928%(ARI) and 0.925%(ARI).

The fact that he was able to put up SV% north of 0.920% the majority of time is something the Edmonton Oilers need. If Kuemper can put up a 0.928% with the Arizona Coyotes he can certainly do it with the Edmonton Oilers.

The only issue with Kuemper is he is the best available goalie in this UFA group. Free agency is a place where top players go to get paid. This is the only reason why I think the Edmonton Oilers may look at another option as opposed to Kuemper.

I think Kuemper may be looking at getting more than $6 million. I just don’t think the Edmonton Oilers can afford to do that. Yes they got more than $20 million of cap space, but that cap space also needs to clean up things up front.

If Kuemper is willing to take a bit of a discount then I think the Edmonton Oilers will be a good fit. If he doesn’t I hope that Holland only looks at giving Kuemper big money if he is the only option left on the board.

Jack Campbell

This is the goalie that I think is the most likely to become an Edmonton Oilers player at the day. He is a perfect balance between skill and cost. He may not be the best goalie available, but he will be the most economical.

Campbell has played the last few season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was the starter the majority of the time. Unfortunately for him the Leafs were never able to make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

Want your voice heard? Join the Oil On Whyte team!

Write for us!

With the Edmonton Oilers recent playoffs success he may be able to take a slight discount to come here for a chance to lift the Cup. This is something that the Oilers playoff run did for the team. High end players may actually want to come here because they have a chance to win.

Not only will high end players want to come here to have a chance to win. There is also the Connor McDavid factor. When you have McDavid there is not only a chance to win games, there is the potential to get lots of points.30

The same goes for goalies. When McDavid plays a third of the game odds are the puck will be in your end less. This means less shots on net which means less goals against. Do you really think that if Mike Smith played anywhere else he could end up with a 0.915 SV%? I don’t think so.

Another thing about Campbell that makes him a leading candidate for the Oilers is that he comes from playing in a Canadian market. He understands how much pressure is on a team to succeed and he handled it well in Toronto. Plus Toronto is the worst place when it comes to pressure.

If I was to put a bet on which goalie the Edmonton Oilers sign it would be Jack Campbell.