The Edmonton Oilers have been linked to a potential trade involving a goalie who could start games for Team Canada at the Olympics.
With goaltending once again being a hot topic in the Alberta capital, rumours about the Oilers’ interest in the trade market are starting to ramp up. The latest report comes from Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, who put out his first edition of the trade board on Tuesday afternoon.
In it, he linked the Oilers to St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, who captured gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off with Canada last season and is in line to crack the Olympic squad as well.
“The strongest speculation ties Binnington to Edmonton,” Kypreos wrote. “The Oilers are also seeing if they can get a defenceman out of St. Louis at the same time.
“That potential deal would most likely be built around Stuart Skinner going back to St. Louis to team up with [Joel] Hofer.”
That would be quite a shakeup for the Oilers, who seem to have been steadfast in defending Skinner throughout his time with Edmonton. Binnington is a more veteran option for the team and is coming off a decent 2024-25 campaign where he helped a mediocre Blues club to Game 7 against the President’s Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets.
This year, however, has been a bit of a tire fire for the 32-year-old as he sits near the bottom of the entire league with a -6.0 GSAx and a dismal .880 save percentage. However, outside of this season and a horrid 2022-23 campaign, Binnington’s numbers have been great throughout his career.
Swapping out Skinner for Binnington would be a bit of a risk for the Oilers. As disappointing as Stu has been, he would be a great tandem option for Edmonton and pairing him with Binnington would likely be the preference. If Skinner is dealt, that would leave Calvin Pickard in the backup spot, which is not ideal.
Kyperos also mentioned that the Oilers were looking to add a defenceman in a potential deal as well. It feels unlikely that St. Louis would deal Philip Broberg back to Edmonton after offer-sheeting him last summer.
Names like Justin Faulk and Cam Fowler make sense as veterans who could be on the move. Could St. Albert native Colton Parayko be an option as a bigger name on the move? According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong could be looking to make a big splash sooner rather than later.
Though he did not explicitly allude to the Oilers being involved.
“[Armstrong] never leaves the Louisville on his shoulder; he always finds a way to swing that back,” Dreger said on Tuesday’s edition of Early Trading. “It wouldn’t surprise anyone if he does something of significance in the days ahead.”
This is the time of year when the rumour mill starts to fire up, and with the Oilers searching for a solution between the pipes, they should be involved in all sorts of speculation.