Jack Campbell’s trip to the American Hockey League hasn’t gone as planned for the Edmonton Oilers.
The $25 million goaltender cleared through waivers in early November and the plan was for him to regain confidence playing with the Bakersfield Condors and then get called back up to the big league squad. But rather than finding his groove playing against lesser competition, Campbell has struggled to a 3.46 goals against average and an .888 save percentage across ten games with the Condors.
According to Elliotte Friedman, who appeared on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer on Wednesday, Campbell will no longer be the starting goaltender in Bakersfield, as the organization needs to prioritize giving starts to top goaltending prospect Olivier Rodrigue.
Friedman: “One of the things I’m hearing out in Bakersfield, Jack Campbell might not be the starter there, if he hasn’t lost the job already. Olivier Rodrigue has got to play, so this plan that the Oilers had, that this would be a short trip down for Campbell, it’s going in the other direction. I think it becomes now, how comfortable are you with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard? And if not, where are you going?”
Satuffer: “Jason Gregor wrote a piece earlier this week and said Ken Holland has until February 6 to get another goalie. At this stage of the game, it doesn’t appear that it’s going to be Campbell.”
The Oilers traded up to select Rodrigue with the No. 62 overall pick in the 2018 draft. He had a few difficult years after transitioning from the QMJHL to professional hockey but has rounded into form as a legitimate goalie prospect over his last two seasons.
So far in 2023-24, the 23-year-old has made seven appearances and has a 2.14 goals against average and a .938 save percentage. Most recently, Rodrigue started for the Condors against the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Wranglers on Thursday and stopped 38 of 40 shots in a 4-2 win.
Bakersfield has a couple more games this week, a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, so we’ll likely see Rodrigue and Campbell split the two. They play on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of next week and it’ll be interesting to see if Rodrigue again suits up for two of three.
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