Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet joined NHL Network during NHL Free Agency on Tuesday and was asked about what the Edmonton Oilers will do at the goalie position.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Tony Luftman: “So we just showed that whole rip of highlights, and it’s the Panthers against the Oilers. Oilers fans are groaning. You can hear them from here. Back-to-back Stanley Cup Final losses to the Cats. Notable subtractions for the Edmonton Oilers: Connor Brown, Viktor Arvidsson, Corey Perry, John Klingberg. So those are the guys who are reportedly leaving. What’s coming back for Edmonton?”
Elliotte Friedman: “I think that they’re looking for a goalie. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of their first moves today (Tuesday) is in goal, and I’m working on that right now, but I heard that they were trying to get something like that done today, whether it was a Ufa goalie or somebody that they were going to potentially trade for. That’s one of the things I was looking at right away.”
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Luftman: “One of the things we talked about throughout that Cup Final run was the fact that in the net in their crease, they spent a cumulative $3.6 million between them. And Pickard, obviously remarkable those six straight wins. Skinner, they ended up in the bottom half of the 16 playoff teams in terms of save percentage. What’s the answer there? Pickard is obviously beloved, and at $1 million what an insurance policy he is. How do you see the current guys in terms of that situation?”
Friedman: “I have to say there was a time I thought they might move on from Skinner. Now, I’m not convinced they’re going to do that. I think that they feel that. Well, one thing that’s happening is that they’re changing their goalie coach. They’re going to, make a change at that position. And I don’t think it’s as simple as to blame the goalie coach for everything, it’s never that easy Tony, but I do think they believe that this is still a young guy who’s shown real ability, and they are going to try working with them differently.
I mean, the best way to solve your problem is to fix it internally, rather than try to trade for 100 things around, and so I think they’re going to try a different teaching approach with Skinner, and hope that helps.
I mean, the other thing too is, this is a team that’s really tight on the cap. They’ve got (Leon) Draisaitl at $14. They’ve got (Evan) Bouchard now coming in at 10.5. They’ve already got (Connor) McDavid at 12.5, and that’s going to go even higher, so Skinner makes 2.6, and I think they feel really strongly that at 2.6 that’s really good value for what he is, and they still think he can be better.
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So I think he’s staying and I think that what they’ll probably try to do is change his partner, not necessarily because of anything that Pickard did. He battled, and he did a real nice job. I just think that they have to end the uncertainty in goal, and I think they feel that that might be the best way to do it.”
NHLRumors.com Note: There are not many left out there for the Oilers to sign. They are already losing a ton of depth pieces. Goalies like Ilya Samsonov, Alexandar Georgiev, and James Reimer are left on the market. If Edmonton were gonna trade for a goalie, they would have done it by now. Again GM Stan Bowman said what is better out there right now.
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