The goaltending woes of the Edmonton Oilers are on track to continue

Every season there tends to be speculation that the Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of upgrading or finding a solution to their goaltending woes that have plagued the organization since the mid-2000s. One recognizable trend for Oilers is to just throw a sheer number of goaltenders at the problem.

Rarely does quantity help produce quality. Quantity also rarely produces stability between the pipes.

Sometimes its a brief spark of excellence that leads to a immediate unearned long term deal (sorry Mikko Koskinen and Jack Campbell), giving up on a younger goalie after a single bad season (sorry Devan Dubnyk), or a solid but not 1A quality goalie (sorry lots of goalies).

A list of goaltending candidates the Oilers have had in the last decade and a half:

• Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers
• Nikolai Khabibulin (as a 35+ goaltender)
• Devan Dubnyk
• Ben Scrivens
• Victor Fasth
• Ilya Bryzgalov (briefly)
• Cam Talbot
• Anders Nilsson
• Mikko Koskinen
• Mike Smith (as a 35+ goaltender)
• Jack Campbell
• Stuart Skinner
• Calvin Pickard
• (Possibly) Connor Ingram

Across the past 15 or so seasons the Oilers have had 13 different goalies assume a starters position. Many of these goaltenders have also been on the wrong side of 30 too, which hasn’t helped address the long term nature of their problem as well.

The current NHL situation

The current situation echoes the “solid but not starter” conversation. As Skinner, Pickard, and even Ingram have all proven that they are NHL quality goaltenders. There’s little doubt that they belong at this level, but neither Skinner or Pickard steal an entire series for their club.

That’s not to say they don’t have the ability to steal (or give up) a single game as both Pickard and Skinner have shown flashes of that in this young season already. It’s the consistency that’s been an issue with both of them that raise concern with the Oilers aspirations to be a cup contender this season.

This lack of consistency raises questions, as its undeniable that a solidified starter is needed to win a cup, as past cup winners have proven. Think L.A and Jonathan Quick, Chicago and Corey Crawford, Tampa Bay and Andrei Vasilevskiy, or Florida and Sergei Bobrovsky.

With all of these cup winning teams it was never a question of who was starting in all of their playoff games. As the Oilers have proved last playoff run, for Edmonton there’s not a definitive answer. It was more so the question of whoever was not struggling.

The recent acquisition of Connor Ingram is an upgrade, but whether it moves the needle for the Oilers remains in doubt.

Goaltending depth in the system

The quantity over quality mentality is no more evident in the Oilers organization than in the minor leagues. The Oilers have five goalies signed for what is realistically two roster spots with the Bakersfield Condors, and both of those roster spots have gone to veterans. The Condors have an average goaltending age of 29.5.

Realistically the Condors could have taken one vet, (Ingram), and one rookie for him to mentor, (Nathaniel Day). This notion is even more potent right now as both Tomkins and Ingram have struggled greatly at the start of this current AHL season.

This means all three top Oilers goaltending prospects, (Samuel Jonsson, Connor Day, and Ungar) are now splitting a single ECHL net three ways.

This prospect management raises questions around stalled, and slowed development furthering the narrative that the Oilers are approaching their long term issue with a exceedingly short term solution.

The old saying of: “too many cooks in the kitchen,” personifies the Oilers current goaltending situation.

What does this mean for the organization?

The Oiler’s are a contending team and therefore are searching for a short term solution, which is fine. Or a short term solution would be fine if it was actually going to solve their problems. Swapping out one backup goaltender for another is unlikely to bring the historic franchise another Stanley Cup.

What compounds the issue is the Oilers aren’t even trying to develop their future pieces into a possible starting netminder at the AHL level either. When taken into this will likely perpetuate the Oilers goaltending issues in the future.