Oilers expected to scour trade market in search for goaltending help, go to players with options

One of the biggest takeaways from Stan Bowman’s press conference last Friday was about the area’s he felt the team needed to address the most.

“I’ve always thought that win or lose, it’s good to have some new players in your group because the players that weren’t here with this group this season, they have a hunger to try to experience what it was like to get all the way to the final,” said Bowman.

“We’re not going to bring the same group back. How many is tough to say right now… I think looking at our team, the area with probably the least amount of change will be the defence.”

By simple process of elimination, that leaves two areas left to be addressed: the forwards and the goaltending. There’s word about changes to the forward group coming, with Viktor Arvidsson reportedly willing to work with the team on finding a new home, and the fact that Evander Kane is looking more and more likely to be moved in a cap dump situation.

There hasn’t seemed to be much chatter about the netminding in Edmonton, though, but that can change on a dime. What we do know is that there’s a weak free agent class in terms of available goalies, headlined by the likes of Jake Allen, Anton Forsberg and Alex Lyon.

There’s always the offer sheet route, too, but they only have their own sixth and seventh round picks this year, as well as St. Louis’ third. Their first is owned by the Flyers from last years draft day trade up to select Sam O’Reilly, their second is owned by the Utah Mammoth from the Zack Kassian trade, while the San Jose Sharks have Edmonton’s third from last summer’s Cody Ceci trade. Unless they swing a deal to reacquire any of those picks, offer sheets are off the table.

That leaves the last spot for the Oilers to look at being the trade market, one which Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Monday the team will be scouring.

“The biggest question is in goal. The best goalie available on the free agent market is Jake Allen,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s what they’re going to do, but at the very least it’s clear they’re going to be looking into the trade market there. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s one of the things they go over.”

Friedman went on to say the team could examine what options are out there, and talk with some of the players on the Oilers roster to get their thoughts.

“They’ve admitted they’ve talked to some of their top players about it, like ‘what do you think?’ And I wouldn’t be surprised if they go to some of their players with some of their options and say, ‘Here’s what we could do and what do you like?'”

The name at the forefront of those discussions will likely be the Anaheim Ducks’ John Gibson, but as our own Ryley Delaney hypothisized, others like the Seattle Kraken’ Joey Daccord, the Vancouver Canucks’ Thatcher Demko, the St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington and the Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman could be others they explore.