Insider Reveals Potential Snag in Oilers-Blues Trade Talks

The Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues are among the more eager teams in the NHL to shake up their respective rosters. Edmonton’s urgency to upgrade in goal has increased in recent days thanks to the continued struggles of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, and because of that, they’ve been connected to St. Louis, specifically in regard to a potential blockbuster deal involving goaltender Jordan Binnington.

Nick Kypreos recently stirred the hornet’s nest by suggesting the two were linked and then followed that up on Friday on the Kyper and Bourne Show, saying to David Amber, “St Louis is vulnerable. They’re not going to resign him to a long-term deal. He wants to play longer. There’s a history, you know, there’s a chemistry with McDavid from 4 Nations. He’s considered a gamer, like if you’re going to roll the dice on any goalie out there, I think it should be Binnington.”

While Binnington makes a lot of sense for the Oilers to target in a trade, TSN insider Chris Johnston has been told that their recent history, specifically the offer sheets the Blues made to land Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, could put a wrench in those discussions. 

Johnston said:

“A team like the Edmonton Oilers has to be looking at all of their options. I had someone suggest to me though this week, that they don’t think there’s any way the Oilers and the Blues can make that kind of trade, given the recent history with the offer sheets. Now, we’ll see. But, someone did put that in my ear yesterday that we should maybe not get too far ahead of ourselves linking those two teams,”

The 32-year-old Binnington is in the fifth season of the six-year, $36 million extension he signed to stay in St. Louis back in 2021.

If Not Jordan Binnington, Then Who?

While this does make a trade between the Oilers and Blues more difficult to envision, a deal sending Binnington to Edmonton still shouldn’t be ruled out, particularly given the desperation around both teams.