Oilers Shouldn’t Panic Over Early Goaltending Struggles

What if the Oilers sent down Calvin Pickard and called up Connor Ingram in November? Skinner and Ingram could have been a solid and cheaper tandem. But that wasn’t even explored. They held onto Pickard for far too long, and that proved costly. Ingram was completely serviceable and severely outplayed Jarry down the stretch. If they were more patient with Skinner, they could’ve traded Kulak for an asset near the deadline, rather than attaching him as an add-on. Plus, they traded a third-round pick to acquire Spencer Stastney as Kulak’s replacement. Now, Stastney is the eighth defenceman and will likely be on waivers soon. Poor asset management has been the theme, and they need to learn from previous mistakes.

We could be seeing a similar situation play out. What if Andersen comes back in December and shines? What if he’s the guy to grab the number one job down the stretch? Last season, they jumped the gun and made a trade before evaluating Ingram. They need to see what they have in Andersen before making another move and hope Levi and Jarry can keep the team afloat until then. The Oilers don’t have assets to waste. They need to hit a home run with their next move, because if they don’t, they’re in trouble.

Nobody Will Bail Out the Oilers

Every team in the league knows that Edmonton desperately needs stability between the pipes. So why would anyone help them out and make them better? They will probably need to pay an outrageous price, and they don’t have the assets to facilitate a deal, especially if they want top-six help.

Nobody is lining up to take Jarry’s cap hit for the next two seasons, and placing him on waivers will only save $1.15 million. If they waived him, who would they call up to replace him? The organization is stuck because of previous awful decisions, and they shouldn’t double down and make another terrible decision.

Unless the goaltender acquisition is Connor Hellebuyck, the Oilers should not force a deal. Hellebuyck is also unrealistic because he likely won’t accept a trade to another Canadian team. But if he does, many other teams have much better proposals that Edmonton can’t compete with.

For example, Kiril Marchenko was recently dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He would have been an excellent fit in Edmonton, but they didn’t have a Matthew Knies-calibre player to trade away. I don’t think Matt Savoie, Isaac Howard, and a first-round pick are enough to pry Hellebuyck out of Winnipeg. Other teams can easily beat that package.