The Edmonton Oilers’ goalie woes are not getting solved on their own. Sooner or later, and according to an insider, perhaps by the holiday deadline, the Oilers are expected to have their roster in such a place that can bolster the team’s playoff odds. This basically means that the existing netminding corps needs to up their game by then, or management could consider more drastic measures to straighten out the Oilers’ roster.
However, the question of whether the team will be able to implement such measures with ease is quite another thing. An insider recently weighed in on the issue, and the fact remains that a goalie change is easier said than done.
Cap Space Ills Might Hinder the Edmonton Oilers’ Plans to Improve Goaltending
Thanks to Stuart Skinner’s well-documented record of failures, fans’ appeals to the management to address the critical goalie situation remain as loud as ever. Sure, Skinner did redeem himself from his abysmal performance against the Dallas Stars by making 26 saves against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, but questions surrounding his reliability remain.
The Oilers have reinforcements in the form of Connor Ingram. But as Frank Seravalli put it straight a few days ago, Calvin Pickard remains a locker-room favorite, thus hindering any plans to deploy Ingram. Consequently, ever since Stan Bowman acquired Ingram, he hasn’t made an appearance on the ice for Edmonton.
In a further development of this ongoing discourse, David Pagnotta has raised another impediment to the Edmonton front office’s chances of improving their goaltending situation. The insider recently appeared on “Hello Hockey with Tom Gazzola & Shawn Belle” and addressed the Oilers’ goaltending. According to Pagnotta, despite the fan base being convinced that the goalie situation needs to be salvaged, the Oilers’ brass may disagree mainly because the team’s financial situation may not be conducive.
“I get the frustration. I get that. That’s the, the primary focal point. Um, but I don’t think the oilers feel that’s the primary focal point right now for a couple of reasons. One, they just can’t afford to do it,” Pagnotta stated, making the Oilers’ sorry state of affairs quite apparent.
It goes without saying that if not for cap space woes, the management would have attempted to improve every part of their roster, not just goaltending, to ensure that the team redeems itself from two successive Stanley Cup losses. However, the reality for the Oilers is entirely different.
The Oilers have now been linked to Tristan Jarry, Jordan Binnington, Juuse Saros, and Elvis Merzlikins. While they are all worth considering, the discussion might not even go that far if finances do not allow. “So whether it’s the flip of the week in Tristan Jarry or last week it was Jordan Binnington. The week before was Saros. The week before that was Merzlikins. It’s like, yes, those are, those are probably going to help, but how do you afford it cap wise?” Pagnotta raised the poignant question on the podcast.
Yes, Connor McDavid signed a moderate contract extension to offer his team more flexibility to develop a well-rounded roster. However, the team still has contracts to attend to, such as those of Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl. How the management proceeds from here to navigate this situation remains to be seen.