This in, a raging debate over whether or not the top priority at the 2025 trading deadline for the Edmonton Oilers is a goalie, and whether or not the Oilers could acquire a more useful goalie than either Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard.
There are numerous folks lined up on either side of the debate, but we’ll focus tonight on two advocates, Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now and former NHL goalie Carter Hutton, who spoke out on the Kevin Karius Show on Sport Radio 1440.
Said Stauffer: “Here’s the thing. If you could get a (top NHL goalie) Shesterkin or Vasilevskiy or Sorokin and have a guaranteed upgrade on what the Oilers have, you would do it. I don’t believe (Team Canada star) Jordan Binnington is available… John Gibson’s had a little bit of a bounce back this year. Can’t stay healthy.”
Staufer favoured the Oilers trading for cycle-stopper of a d-man. “I don’t envision the orders trading for a goaltender. It could still happen. And part of it is, I’m not sure on the clarity of Evander Kane and the LTIR space.
Stauffer agreed Edmonton’s two goalie Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard need to make more stops. “But the team in front of them needs to play better, too.”
He noted the team had good defensive metrics in the first 50 games of the year but those same metrics have crashed since that time.
On the Karius Show, Carter Hutton, an NHL goalie for a decade, argued in favour of Edmonton trading for a new goalie.
“I think something needs to change, right? And I’ve been a big backer of Calvin Picard. I think he’s been serviceable. He’s been, you know, I think he’s been put in a tough situation, right? Especially we look back at last season, getting thrown in the playoffs, and he’s played well, and he earned that extension. But I think it’s got to the point now where you need a guy who can carry the mail at this point. You need a guy that can, you know, in case something happens with Skinner, the way he’s played. And we’ve seen this for a few years now, what Skinner is. The fact of the matter is he can be one of the best goalies in the league at times when he’s on, and his numbers are great. But the inconsistency in his play is worrisome, and it’s been worrisome now for a while.
Hutton said he didn’t think Pickard could come in and win a series for the Oilers.
“I think he’s atna point now where the game is just too fast. It’s passed him by. It worries me. The fact of the matter is I think they need to go out and they need to find a goalie.”
The Oilers also need to get better defensively, Hutton said, but added, “I also truly believe that if you don’t have a goalie that the players are confident in and know that is going to get the job done night in, night out, it’s very hard to win hockey games in this league.
“You see other teams and you see guys making saves that are, you know, potential goals. You need to make saves. You need to make big saves at the right time, especially at a home game against a team like Anaheim where you’re trying to collect points.”
It’s also worth noting in this debate that Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch noted that 45 per cent of goals in the NHL are scored off the rush, but that the Oilers have been the worst team in the league since February 1 in giving up Grade A shots off the rush.
My take
1. The market isn’t full of strong to be had. A player like Binnington might well not be available and he also might be too expensive for the Oilers to acquire, both in cap hit and acquisition cost. Anaheim’s Gibson might also have a cap hit that doesn’t work, then there’s his history of injury.
2. I don’t see the Oilers getting a better goalie than Skinner, but could they not get a goalie who can at least be as good as Pickard? Injury may well strike and it’s hard to imagine Pickard could lead the team to a Stanley Cup victory. It’s also the case that hot and cold Skinner could get super cold in a series but Pickard isn’t able to get it done either. If the Oilers can pick up another goalie to at least challenge Pickard, that would be the prudent path, no?
3. Knoblauch is right. The Oilers have been crappy on defence for at least a month. If each and every player on this team doesn’t buckle down pronto and start committing to playing championship defence, the Oilers will go nowhere in the playoffs.
The team showed it can play that superior level of defence last year in the playoffs, and we’ve seen that same commitment and discipline in some games this year, but it’s time for each player to crack the whip on himself, to demand better reads, better positioning and more intensity of himself.
The Oilers did this once, they can do it again, and if they do so, the goaltending suddenly might not seem like such a major issue.
4. At the same time, goaltending is part of what’s wrong with the Oilers just now. Knoblauch has called them a fragile team, but that’s how teams get when they don’t trust their goalie to make basic saves, when the players are super tight about allowing any shot.
Major movie event about Ukrainian players in NHL
Big event coming up, Kelly Hrudey and Friends event at Ford Hall Rogers Place on March 10. Hrudey is going to MC the event which will be the Canadian unveiling of “Uke” Untold Stories of Canadian Hockey Heroes, a documentary featuring former NHL stars of Ukrainian descent; featuring Gretzky, Hawerchuk, Sawchuk, Johnny Bower, Mike Bossy, Hrudey and many others. Of course there will be a pyrogy dinner. Here are all the details and who to buy tickets for this great event.
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