Oilers: 4 trade targets to solve goaltender woes
As the Edmonton Oilers desperately attempt to get their season on track, we look at four potential trade options to resolve their goalie issues.
Well, it’s fair to state the goaltender situation for the Oilers is a bit of a mess right now. The position is dead last in the NHL with a .864 save percentage and second-worst with a 4.27 Goals Against Average (GAA).
Jack Campbell has paid the price, with the Oilers placing him on waivers for the purpose of assignment. However, where do they go from here, given Stuart Skinner has been just as poor thus far in 2023-24?
A lot of folks consider it too early to be looking at a trade, but these are desperate times for the Oilers. Considered a trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup preseason, they have equalled their worst ever start to a season with a 2-8-1 record through 11 games.
No one would have expected Campbell to be placed on waivers so soon, with the exception of Sportsnet‘s Mark Spector, but they did. As such, here are four goaltending options the Oilers should consider pursuing a trade for:
1) Juuse Saros
Want to get an idea of how good Juuse Saros is? Consider that his .911 save percentage and 2.73 GAA so far this season, would both project to be the worst of his nine seasons in the NHL. (We’re not including his rookie campaign of 2015-16, when his .870 save percentage and 3.10 GAA were compiled in the grand total of one game.)
Critics could point towards Saros’ record of 4-6-0 in his 10 starts to date, but as per his stats, this reflects more on the Predators as a team rather than him specifically. For his career, he has a 151-101-27 record in 279 starts and 296 games overall.
Although limited to just 17 games — including 10 starts — in the playoffs, the 28-year-old has also performed admirably well. Despite a 3-7-0 record, he has produced a .914 save percentage and 2.63 GAA.
The only real knock against Saros is his lack of size, at 5 ft 11 in and 180 lbs. However, he has excellent movement and reflexes, while being remarkably durable and consistent when called upon.
In terms of the Finland native’s contract, he would bring the exact same cap hit as Campbell at $5 million. However, he does become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) after the conclusion of next season.
This would still mean the Oilers needing to offer at least a player from their current roster in turn, to help mitigate their tenuous salary cap situation. (Unless the Predators are prepared to retain part of his salary for some reason.) And this is before we even get to whether or not the Predators would even enter into negotiations.
In this respect, it really comes down to whether or not the Predators believe they can challenge for the playoffs in 2023-24. If so, it will be extremely difficult to persuade them to give up their number one goaltender.
2) James Reimer
We won’t go as far as to suggest James Reimer is a polarising player. However, there’s a sense of him almost been considered an underachiever during his 13+ seasons in the NHL.
Reimer has talent, strength and sound technique. However, he’s never quite put it all together on a consistent enough basis to be the main man on his team.
The 35-year-old looked so promising during his rookie season with the Leafs. He went 20-10-5 in 35 starts, with a .921 save percentage and 2.60 GAA, seemingly set to be the long-term answer in Toronto.
It never quite panned out, although Reimer was certainly not terrible during his time with the Leafs. For what it’s worth, he’s started more games in recent seasons, including a career-high 46 in 2021-22 with the Sharks.
This is down to the Arborg, Manitoba native improving his conditioning and just generally taking better care of himself, as his career has progressed. Although don’t expect this to mean he’d now be in a position to be the main man in Edmonton.
Not that the Oilers would be looking to Reimer as the long-term option in this capacity anyway. Aside from his age, he is set to be an UFA after this season.
In any event, the 2006 fourth round draft pick would work out well financially for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign. His cap hit for this season is only $1.5 million.
For his career, Reimer has a 206-171-61 record in 442 starts and 480 games overall, with a .911 save percentage and 2.85 GAA. For what it’s worth he’s started 10 playoff games (plus another appearance), going 5-5-0 and producing a .925 save percentage and 2.70 GAA.
3) Jake Allen
Jake Allen was experiencing a renaissance of sorts to begin this season. Through five starts he had a 3-1-1 record, producing a .927 save percentage and 2.72 GAA in the process.
This was considerably better than last season, when Allen had the worst campaign of his NHL career with a 15-24-3 record in 41 starts, along with a .891 save percentage and 3.55 GAA. In fairness to him, he wasn’t helped by playing behind a poor defensive team in Montreal.
Unfortunately for the former St.Louis Blue, his excellent start to 2023-24 was spectacularly ruined in his last game, versus the Lightening. He allowed four goals on just nine shots, and was mercifully pulled after just 13:50 minutes of action.
Regardless, we’re not going to let one start dissuade us from believing the Oilers should consider a play for Allen. He is a talented and big goaltender, albeit he hasn’t always been consistent enough to be considered the main man between the pipes.
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At the same time, 2008 34th overall draft pick would be excellent as part of a tandem, which is what a lot of NHL teams do these days anyway. Certainly, the Oilers would still find this scenario a plus.
At the time of posting, Allen has compiled a 186-152-39 record in 380 career starts (401 appearances overall) over 10+ seasons. In that time, he has a .909 save percentage and 2.71 GAA, which would be make for a strong upgrade over what the Oilers have had thus far this season in goal.
Further, the 33-year-old has stepped up in the playoffs when needed. While he might only have a 11-12-0 record in 23 playoff starts (29 total games), he has produced a .924 save percentage and 2.06 GAA in the process.
Having said all this, in order to persuade the Canadians to trade Allen, the Oilers would likely need an enticing package, including a draft pick and/or a quality prospect. They would also probably need to offer someone from the current roster, given Allen’s cap hit of $3.85 million both this season and next.
4) Linus Ullmark
Finally we come to the player who would be the ultimate coup for the Oilers, in their efforts to strengthen the goalie position. Although if we’re being entirely honest, it’s tough to imagine the Bruins parting company with Linus Ullmark.
However, we still need to consider Ullmark, if for no other reason, that there has been plenty of talk from the hockey media, connecting him to the Oilers. In fact, the connection goes back several months.
As we previously wrote, Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now reported that the Oilers looked in on Ullmark (as well as teammate Jeremy Swayman) during the summer. Murphy advised this information came courtesy of an NHL executive.
The NHL source went on to tell Murphy that General Manger Ken Holland would likely be back on the phone to the Bruins soon, if the goaltender situation didn’t improve. Well, it’s safe to say we’re at that point now.
Certainly, Ullmark would be a fantastic addition for the Oilers. Last season he led the NHL with 40 wins, a .938 save percentage and 1.89 GAA, to win the Vezina Trophy. (He also shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with Swayman.)
The 30-year-old is off to another fine start this season, with a 4-1-1 record through six starts. Along the way, he has produced a .926 save percentage and 2.30 GAA.
From a financial perspective, Ullmark has a cap hit of $5 million both this season and next, before becoming an UFA. Aside from the salary cap implications, you know the Oilers would need to put a heck of a trade package together to entertain the Bruins.
Maybe one factor which could help the Oilers, is that Swayman is clearly the future in Boston. Aside from being just 24, he has been phenomenal so far in 2023-24, going 6-0-0 in six starts and producing a .952 save percentage, along with a 1.49 GAA.
Next. Where do the Oilers go from here with their goalie situation?. dark
Other possible trade candidates who have been mentioned, include Anaheim’s John Gibson, Toronto’s Ilya Samsonov, Calgary’s Dan Vladar and Buffalo’s Eric Comrie. We wouldn’t consider any of them for different reasons, but regardless, all we know is the Oilers need to get someone of quality to add stability between the pipes, and soon.