Edmonton Oilers Free Agency: Top 3 Goalies Worth Signing

Ilya Samsonov

Ilya Samsonov is the third slide for a reason. He is the lowest option in my opinion. While he will likely be the cheapest to sign he is also the least proven goalie on this list. One positive of Samsonov is he is young.

If you are able to lock him long term there is a chance that he becomes a solid NHL starter. If he ends up being a bust though the Edmonton Oilers will still be looking for a goalie. This could be a good gamble though.

If you ask me personally, depending on how much Samsonov wants to sign for perhaps you could sign him to be your back-up goalie. This way you have a proven two NHL starting goalies.

For example if you sign Jack Campbell as your starter and have Ilya Samsonov as your back-up this would be one of the better one, two punches in the NHL. In this day and age in the NHL you either need a future Hall Of Fame goalie to play 60+ games or you need two solid goalies. One to play 50-60 games and the other to fill in the rest.

With the signing Ilya Samsonov you would definitely be leaning towards a 1A/1B versus an 1 and 2. I just think if the Edmonton Oilers start next season with Ilya Samsonov and Stuart Skinner as their two goalies, they will be in trouble.

The Edmonton Oilers during this offseason need to make a big slash in the goalie market and to me Ilya Samsonov just isn’t a big slash. If the other two listed above go get snatched up though, Ken Holland would be smart to at least get a proven starter.

Ilya Samsonov has the potential and has shown glimpses of flare. They are only glimpses though. The Edmonton Oilers are in a spot where they need more than glimpses they need to have a proven player.

Wrap it up

The main point this offseason for the Edmonton Oilers is to get better and hopefully make it further in the playoffs. Adding a proven goalie is one of the biggest parts in that step. I thought last offseason was the most important, but this may be more important.

They made it to the Western Conference finals this past season, now the only way to improve is to make it to the Stanley Cup Final. This is a tough league to win in, so hopefully Holland makes the right moves to improve the roster.