Significant Deal Oilers Exploring Now Looks Unlikely

As per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, “Things can change quickly in the final push but sounds like nothing close with the Oilers as of now for an additional move before the deadline.” That includes a potential significant swing that GM Stan Bowman said he would keep an eye on over the final 24 hours of the trade deadline.

After adding Connor Murphy, Jason Dickinson, and Colton Dach, the Oilers were going to keep an eye on the market and see if one more big swing trade was out there. GM Stan Bowman said on Thursday he imagined the Oilers were done, but he wasn’t closing the door. That led to speculation that he might try to upgrade the questionable goaltending situation, assuming someone fell into the team’s lap and they could make the money work.

Rumors led to chatter about Sergei Bobrovsky, with the Oilers said to have at least been in contact with Bobrovsky’s camp (per NHL insider Kevin Weekes). He noted that several names were available, but Bobrovsky would have been the big rental play, assuming the Oilers weren’t looking for someone with term.

How the Oilers would have pulled it off remains a mystery. They have little cap space and while a high-end prospect like Ike Howard might have been an option, it wouldn’t have solved the money situation. Even at 50% retained, Bobrovsky was still a $5 million player.

** Update: Pierre LeBrun just reported that the Panthers are currently focused on trying to re-sign Bobrovsky. Bob Stauffer also writes that the Oilers made their moves earlier in the week. “Added a 3C (Jason Dickinson) and 2RD (Connor Murphy) to shore up Team D/PK…along with bringing in young energy FWD (Colton Dach). Don’t be surprised if EDM pursues a solid goaltending prospect in the off-season.”

The list of potentially available goalies over the next hour include Sergei Bobrovsky, Jesper Wallstedt, Connor Ingram, Jordan Binnington, Anthony Stolarz, and Stuart Skinner.