Heavy Hockey Faceoff: Is the Oilers Goaltending Good Enough?
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EDMONTON, AB - OCTOBER 20 Edmonton Oilers Goalie Jack Campbell (36) in action in the second period during the Edmonton Oilers game versus the Carolina Hurricanes on October 20, 2022 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB. (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire)
November 8, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg
The Edmonton Oilers sent Jack Campbell to the Bakersfield Condors and recalled Calvin Pickard on Wednesday. Campbell has a 4.50 GAA and a .873 save percentage in five games for the Oilers this season. Pickard has a 2.03 GAA and a .939 save percentage in four games for the Condors this season.
Putting Campbell on waivers is the first sign of changing tides in Edmonton amidst their terrible start to the season. Some players have already been sent down to Bakersfield and others have been recalled due to injury issues, but no move made so far this season carries the magnitude of waiving a $25 million goaltender.
Campbell’s play this season has been sub par to say the least. His play is swimming in the murky depths of the ocean with the ugliest fish in the sea if par is the ocean’s surface. I’ll acknowledge that he was unbelievable in a 43-save effort against the Nashville Predators in the third game of the season, and he was spectacular in the second period against the Minnesota Wild. We haven’t seen that version of Campbell nearly often enough though. The Oilers need Campbell to find that level more consistently. Hopefully some time in the AHL and some time with Condors goalie coach Sylvain Rodrigue will be the tonic for what ails Campbell’s game.
To be fair, I could say similar things about Stuart Skinner’s start to the season and be totally accurate as well. Skinner hasn’t been any better. However, Skinner is younger and on a cheaper contract. Odds were higher that a team would have picked Skinner up off waivers than Campbell due to Campbell’s contract. The Oilers had to do something to address their goaltending situation, and waiving Campbell was a logical first move.
Pickard has 116 games of NHL experience. He’s not a bona fide NHL goaltender, but he should be able to come in and give the Oilers a handful of games here. Pickard has had a great start to his season in Bakersfield, but I don’t think that anyone thinks that he’s the solution for the Oilers this season. The question of what to do with Campbell and the goaltending situation is one that’s likely to linger for a while as a resolution will take time to unfold.
The Oilers will save $1.15 million against the cap by sending Campbell to Bakersfield. $762,500 of that will be eaten up by Pickard. However, the Oilers could trade for a different goalie with that extra $1.15 million in cap space. Let’s look at some potentially available options that carry a cap hit of less than $1.15 million.
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The Sabres have two young goalies in Devon Levi and Ukko Pekka-Luukkonen. Their third goalie is Eric Comrie, the half-brother of former Oilers star Mike Comrie. Levi might need some AHL seasoning, and they need to keep all three goalies if that turns out to be the case. Comrie would be a nice pickup for the Oilers, but I don’t see it happening.
Alex Lyon has yet to play a game for the Detroit Red Wings this season, but he posted a 2.82 GAA and a .914 save percentage in fifteen games with the Florida Panthers last season.
The Montreal Canadiens have three goaltenders on their active roster. Jake Allen has been great to start the season, so I don’t see the Habs being in a hurry to move him. Campbell would have to go the other way to make the money work for the Oilers, and the Habs have no cap space. They didn’t want to risk losing Cayden Primeau on waivers this season, so they kept him on the roster. Samuel Montembault has a 3.06 GAA and a .902 save percentage in six games for the bleu, blanc, et rouge this season; and his one million dollar cap hit would be affordable for the Oilers.
There’s also Martin Jones, who hasn’t played good hockey in years and is the organizational number three for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I don’t think the Oilers are that desperate yet, but they’re getting close.
Cal Petersen was in a similar situation to Campbell’s last season, a $5 million goalie that got waived and sent to the AHL mid-season. He played ten games for the Kings last season, and the next 40 for the Ontario Reign. He was traded to the Flyers along with Sean Walker and a first round pick in the three-way trade that saw Ivan Provorov go to the Columbus Blue Jackets (which should give you an idea of what it might take to move Campbell). The Oilers would surely have to part with a first round pick plus other assets or take an equally bad contract back to move Campbell.
Reid Wilkins reported on Inside Sports that the Oilers are interested in Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues. Binnington famously led the Blues to the Stanley Cup as a rookie in 2019 after being called up in January 2019. He was solid for the next two seasons after that. Then, the 30-year-old’s numbers have nose-dived hard in each of the last two seasons. However, he’s at a more than respectable 2.58 GAA and .919 save percentage in eight games this season.
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Binnington’s contract carries a six million dollar cap hit for four more seasons including this one. Campbell’s contract is five million dollars for four more seasons. They’re similar in terms of age, cap hit, and term. I suspect that the Oilers would have to pony up an asset or two to make this an even trade, especially considering that the Blues would have to retain salary on Binnington or make the money work for the Oilers in another way.
Trade rumours have followed Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart around for a couple of seasons now. The 25-year old Sherwood Park native has a 2.52 GAA and a .913 save percentage in eight games this season. Hart has the potential to be a star NHL goalie. He would be an amazing pickup for the Oilers, but he would come with a steep acquisition cost as well as some other risk. Hart was a member of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team, and the investigation surrounding incidents of sexual assault involving members of that team are ongoing. There is a risk of a suspension or more for any member of that team, as well as the potential organizational image tarnishment that could come along with acquiring a member of that team at this time.
Jusse Saros seems like a pipe dream, but so did Mattias Ekholm at this time last season. The Nashville Predators were in a selling mode last season since they weren’t going to make the playoffs and they were going in a new direction under new incoming general manager Barry Trotz. Saros would be expensive, and would also be expensive to re-sign after his current contract expires after next season. Kevin Lankinen could be an intriguing option as well.
Perhaps a team like the San Jose Sharks would be willing to take Campbell’s contract along with an asset for Kaapo Kahkonen or Mackenzie Blackwood. Neither of them have been any better, but a new start might do either of them some good as well. Maybe the Arizona Coyotes would be willing to part with one of Karel Vejmelka or Connor Ingram for the right price.
Ideally, the Oilers would find a way to move Campbell and get a cheaper goalie, then use the extra cap space to improve the team at another position or even simply allow them to carry a 22nd player. We don’t live in an ideal world though. It might take trading Skinner to increase the value of the goalie coming the other way. It will also include sacrificing something else that we don’t want to sacrifice to get a truly impactful goalie.
