At this point, almost everyone knows that the Edmonton Oilers need better goaltending, but it isn’t always that easy to come by. Some of the highest-paid goaltenders are sub-.900 SV%, while others are unexpectedly playing great, season after season. One thing remains the same though. The Oilers’ goaltending brings them down.
The Oilers have made attempts to get goalies who have been traded in recent years, but to no avail. At this point, it is very much needed as Calvin Pickard appears to be done at the NHL level. In his last six games, Pickard has posted SV% of .750%, .762%, .864%, .852%, .815%, and .818%.
Elliotte Friedman reported, “I talked about (John) Gibson. One of the issues was that they wanted Gibson to split the job with Skinner. That wasn’t what Gibson wanted to do.” Gibson ended up with the Detroit Red Wings, and although Cam Talbot got off to a stronger start, the Red Wings have gone mainly with Gibson in more games.
In terms of the Oilers’ goalie search, Friedman also said, “Bowman looks at it…what is the deal that…makes us better for the cost we’re going to have to pay. It’s pretty obvious to me that (Bowman’s) never seen something that was better than what they had.” Given Pickard’s numbers now, that statement should change. Almost every goalie in the league and many that aren’t are and could do better than what Pickard is giving the Oilers, and that isn’t a chance to win any night.
Pickard has given up 26 goals in those six games and the Oilers have won one time, having to score six goals against the Montreal Canadiens. Stuart Skinner is the much better option right now and the Oilers have Connor Ingram, currently struggling to get back up to pace in the AHL, but Pickard cannot be in the starting lineup for the playoffs and Edmonton will need to address goaltending well before that anyway.
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