Signing Evander Kane gives the Edmonton Oilers a lot more depth at the forward position. At practice Saturday, the Oilers ran with the following:
Evander Kane – Connor McDavid – Kailer Yamamoto
Warren Foegele – Leon Draisaitl -Jesse Puljujarvi
Zach Hyman -RNH – Zack Kassian
Devin Shore – Ryan McLeod – Derek Ryan
It’s hard not to like the look of that group and it gives the Oilers one of the more dangerous top-nines in the league. That said, it’s potentially all for nothing if the Oilers don’t add a goaltender.
Oilers Current Goalie Situation
Mikko Koskinen is playing well. Over his last three games, it feels like someone lit a fire under the Finnish netminder and he’s providing the team with the stops they need to win games. The question is, and will continue to be, can he maintain it? All evidence over his career with the Oilers points to no.
Meanwhile, Stuart Skinner appears to be a goalie of the future, but he hasn’t played enough to warrant full confidence from the coaching staff and management and when he has played, the results have been hit and miss.
Mike Smith tends to play well when he gets into a rhythm, but that rarely happens anymore because he can’t stay healthy. A myriad of injuries have plagued him this season and he can’t be counted on.
In total, the Oilers aren’t where they want to be in terms of goaltending if the plan is to really compete for a Stanley Cup. Signing Kane and risking the reputation of the franchise on the move suggests the mindset of the organization is to win now and to win at nearly any cost.
Holland Has to Make a Move
General manager Ken Holland said he wasn’t going to move a first-round pick or a high-end prospect for a rental. That includes a goalie. This of course was said before the team signed Kane and it’s fair to argue that his signing changes a lot. In fact, why sign him at all if the plan isn’t to fill holes and improve the roster to accentuate his addition.
As much as this might be a tryout to see if he’s worth keeping beyond this season — the thought of that will scare the pants off of some Oilers fans — Kane’s signing is all about improving the Oilers’ odds at and in the playoffs this season. Edmonton has little choice but to be all in now. The Kane signing is only the start of whatever moves might be coming. That means either sticking with his earlier statement and going out to get a netminder that isn’t a rental, or changing his tune because the signing of Kane justifies committing all resources to this current run. Connor McDavid and the rest of the leadership group who are going to bat for Kane will assume Holland is going for it.
Related: Oilers Have More Questions Than Answers Midway Through 2021-22
Does Holland really want to look back at this Kane signing and try to convince himself this was enough? Kane adds more scoring depth, but he doesn’t solve one of the team’s remaining big problems.
Holland’s Trade Options
If Holland goes out into the market and starts looking for a goalie (the word is he already has) there are two choices: pick up a player that isn’t much better than what the team already has or really try and land a piece that can be part of the long-term core.
Among the players that won’t cost a lot are names many have already heard are connected to Edmonton. That includes Joonas Korpisalo, Martin Jones, Anton Khudobin, and others who don’t necessarily move the needle for the organization. If Holland offers up something decent, he could pluck Semyon Varlamov or Alexandar Georgiev out of New York or Ilya Samsonov or Vitek Vanecek out of Washington.
What about saying ‘screw it’ and trying to land that big fish? Perhaps it’s Jeremy Swayman out of Boston or Marc-Andre Fleury out of Chicago? That would surely cost the Oilers their first-round pick and a big sweetener in the case of Fleury (just to get a third team involved in the salary retention part of the deal.)
One of the questions will be how much Holland is willing to give to get the netminder he needs? If Edmonton starts winning and is in the mix, could the first and a top prospect like Xavier Bourgault or Dylan Holloway be the ask from another team? In the case of the Bruins and Swayman, they’ll want a lot. What if it means sending a roster player out the door? It’s a tough question to answer, especially if names like Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, and McLeod are in the equation.
The Oilers signing Kane means the team just got a lot more serious about acquiring a legitimate goaltender. How serious is the real question?