Ever since the Edmonton Oilers finally had enough of Jack Campbell’s play in net and sent him down to the American Hockey League (AHL), the buzz that has surrounded the Oilers has been about which goalie they could get. Campbell may or may not be given one final chance in the NHL with the Oilers, but assuming he isn’t and the team is going ahead with acquiring a goalie to help out Stuart Skinner, there are several options, good and bad, that we are going to get into.
There is going to be some goalie movement this season, as there is every season, but the Oilers need that to happen much sooner than expected. Skinner has started 11 of the last 12 games and 14 of the last 16. Even going into last season, he was expected to be the backup and get about 25 starts. While earning his playing time and because Campbell failed the Oilers in the first year of his contract, Skinner ended up starting 48 games. Though both were struggling this season, the obvious choice to send down was Campbell. Skinner is still the goalie of the future, and there is a lot of trust in him. This is indicated by the team still not acquiring a goaltender and starting Calvin Pickard just once since being recalled.
The Oilers don’t necessarily need a starter, but it wouldn’t hurt for the right price and cap hit. At the very least, they need someone who can split time with Skinner, ease some of the pressure, and allow Skinner to rest. We saw firsthand what getting overworked did to the young goalie in the 2023 playoffs. He struggled a great deal. The reins were fully given over to the 25-year-old sophomore after Campbell got demoted this season. But as the likely outcome is the Oilers finding themselves another goalie on the trade market, we’re going to dive into the top choices out there and the potential mistakes they could make.
Oilers’ Top Goalie Choices to Acquire in 2023-24
The best of the best that may be available for the Oilers to pry from certain teams are Juuse Saros and Carter Hart; the latter is the more viable option. The moves, players on the Philadelphia Flyers, and new management to execute a proper rebuild suggest that the Flyers shouldn’t be done trading off players and getting worse. Unfortunately for the Oilers, the Flyers have grinded this season and played well for John Tortorella, finding themselves in third in their division with a record of 13-10-2. While there is a long way to go until the trade deadline, the Oilers need a quicker resolution in net. I don’t see Hart getting moved while he is playing this well and the team is doing well unless it’s a massive overpayment from the Oilers.
Barry Trotz, the general manager of the Nashville Predators, seems to want to keep Saros around long-term if possible. I would, too, if I were the general manager of a team that is within distance of turning things around and being a contender again with a Vezina-calibre goalie on the roster and in his prime. The Oilers and Predators already made a big trade at the trade deadline last season involving Matthias Ekholm, Tyson Barrie, and more. GM Ken Holland is now dealing with Trotz and not David Poile, so things could be different.
While the Predators aren’t doing as well as the Flyers, it seems like there is a bigger want to keep Saros in Nashville than there is to keep Hart in Philadelphia. Both of these top options would be great if they didn’t cost the Oilers more than they should and could be pulled off soon, but it is very difficult to trade top-end goalies.
Whether they are starters on their current teams or splitting time, the other four best options for the Oilers to acquire are Mackenzie Blackwood, Petr Mrazek, Elvis Merzlikins, and one of James Reimer or Alex Lyon.
The San Jose Sharks are at the bottom of the standings. Blackwood is winning his team games, and they are catching up to some of the other bottom-feeders. The Sharks, with how poorly they started and how bad of a roster they have, want to finish last and get the best player possible for multiple years. The sooner their top goalie gets traded, the more difficult it is for them to win games.
Blackwood doesn’t have a big contract, is signed through next season as well, has very good numbers for playing on the Sharks (.899 save percentage (SV%) and .625 quality start percentage (QS%)), and the team would also be able to take back Jack Campbell. They have sold and should continue to sell anything they can. The defense has been better for Edmonton lately under Kris Knoblauch, but even if there are lapses, Blackwood is used to it playing on the Sharks.
Mrazek is an interesting one because his career has been more up and down than most. Considering he has done a solid job on a very poor Chicago Blackhawks team for the last season-plus, he caught my eye. The Oilers and Blackhawks are no strangers to trades, and like the Sharks, the Blackhawks have cap space to take Campbell from the Oilers. Mrazek’s cap hit is higher, which means that it should cost a bit less to acquire him than it would to acquire Blackwood.
Mrazek is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) after the season, so a rental with a .899 SV% wouldn’t cost much, either. Though the .899 SV% isn’t great, it isn’t awful on a bad team like the Blackhawks. He also has a strong .615 QS%. To put this into perspective, the Oilers have a combined .409 QS%, and Skinner has eight of the team’s nine. The Blackhawks have young goalies they could give a shot or use Campbell, who needs a fresh start.
The Oilers heavily scouted the Columbus Blue Jackets for three consecutive games last week (Nov. 27-Dec. 3), sending three scouts to each game. Spencer Martin started the first game, but Merzlikins started the last two. He has the largest cap hit and commitment but is proving that with a better team in front of him, he is a good goalie and a starter.
Last season’s struggles can be chalked up to using seemingly half an AHL roster, especially on defense. This season, Merzlikins is sporting a .911 SV% despite getting peppered with more than the average goaltender has to face. Campbell would, without a doubt, head the other direction in a trade and would have a tandem of Merzlikins and Skinner through 2025-26 at the very least.
As the Detroit Red Wings have three goalies on their roster, one has to go. While Ville Husso seems to be staying for now, that leaves either James Reimer or Alex Lyon. Reimer has been so consistent his entire 14-year career. The only season in which his SV% was below .900 was in 2022-23 on the very bad Sharks. He has posted a .917 SV% through six starts this season. He has a great cap hit of $1.5 million AAV (average annual value) and would be a rental for the Oilers.
Reimer is more than capable of splitting time with Skinner or taking a backseat. He’s effective in both regards. Lyon, on the other hand, helped the Florida Panthers get into the playoffs last season with a great stretch run and has been the Red Wings’ starter for the past two weeks, starting four games. He is 3-1-0 with a .958 SV% and one shutout. Though this is a small sample size this season, he has proven himself as a solid backup over his last 20 games in the NHL. If the Oilers are looking for very cheap, Lyon is their guy.
Potential Mistakes the Oilers Could Make
Holland has been known to make some bad decisions as the Oilers’ general manager, so I am hoping he doesn’t make another one in what is an important decision. The Oilers were linked to the Montreal Canadiens since they have three goalies. Before Sam Montembeault was extended, the Oilers could have traded for any of the three. In my opinion, they still can for the right price. But that’s a different discussion.
As for Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau. The fact that the Canadiens have held Primeau on their roster for the entire season is because they don’t want to lose him for nothing. While trading him is more likely than sending him down, I think he’s a potential goalie of the future in Montreal, and he also doesn’t fit what the Oilers need. Edmonton needs more experience than Primeau provides and the proven ability to be able to split time with Skinner. While Allen has that, he has declined since the start of the season and has a higher cap hit ($3.85 million AAV). With three goalies on the roster, I don’t imagine the Canadiens would want to deal with Campbell.
The Arizona Coyotes finally look for real, which means they likely won’t be selling off pieces at the trade deadline or before this season. But one player who could be on the move is Karel Vejmelka, though only if a goalie is coming the other way.
Ivan Prosvetov, the third-string goalie for the Coyotes, was claimed by the Colorado Avalanche this season when he was on waivers. Connor Ingram has proven to be a very capable starter for the team, and Vejmelka has taken a backseat. In his first two seasons in the NHL, Vejmelka was able to start a ton of games, face a ton of shots, and perform fairly well. At a fair cap hit of $2.75 million AAV and under contract through next season, the Coyotes can afford to move him if there was a backup option. Seeing as he has struggled this season, though, there are many better options than to try to pry him away from Arizona.
The Calgary Flames have just lost Jacob Markstrom for a while with an injury, as he’s listed as week-to-week. This means the Flames will count on Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf to keep them afloat. This should provide Wolf with his first good chance to prove he belongs in the NHL right now. If that happens and the opportunity arises to trade Vladar, I think the Flames may pull the trigger.
Why I would be wary of the Oilers going for him is the cost of doing business with such a close rival. The price would most definitely be higher for the Oilers to acquire Vladar. On top of that, he has a .883 SV% this season and is paid $2.2 million AAV for only having started 54 games in the NHL. That is almost Skinner’s AAV, and he’s the Oilers’ starter. At the very least, Vladar needs to prove himself while Markstrom is out.
Circling back to the Blue Jackets, their other goalie, Martin, could potentially get moved. He struggled on the Vancouver Canucks last season and was sent to the minors part-way through the season. He was then cut in training camp this season and claimed by Columbus since Daniil Tarasov was injured. Martin shocked people with his strong play early, but he has a sub-.900 SV% in four of his last five games. Even though he is cheap, he hasn’t been able to sustain strong play for long at the NHL level.
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The final potentially bad decision the Oilers could make is acquiring Eric Comrie. The Buffalo Sabres are one of the only other teams that had three goalies until Devon Levi was sent to the AHL to gain confidence and get more reps. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who I would have liked to see as an Oiler, is no longer an option. He is the Sabres’ starter and is playing well. When Levi gets his game back and gets recalled permanently, Comrie should realistically get dealt. The 28-year-old is lacking experience and any consistently good play. In six starts this season, his only game with an SV% over .900 was in his first one. Since then, his starts have been spread out and poor.
Before the Oilers start to play back-to-back games and start someone other than Skinner, the hope is that one of the better goalie options is brought in. Skinner can’t continue to be overworked, or the Oilers are going to have the same problem as last season if they even make the playoffs. That problem is fatigue leading to poor play. The Oilers need someone sooner than later, and I’m confident a trade will happen for the betterment of the team.
