Here’s another potential opportunity for the Oilers to deal with their goaltending issues.
As we know, Edmonton has been involved in a game of goalie musical chairs over the last week. Anton Forsberg, the team’s expected third-string goalie, was grabbed on waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes and Mike Smith was placed on the Long-Term Injured Reserve with an undisclosed issue.
That left Edmonton with Stuart Skinner, a prospect with no NHL experience, as the team’s backup goalie to Mikko Koskinen. After that, the Oilers grabbed AHL veteran Troy Grosenick off of waivers from the L.A. Kings, but the issue here is that he has to do a two-week quarantine before entering Canada and joining the team.
Today, the Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Aaron Dell, their third-string goalie, on waivers.
Unlike Grosenick, Dell has quite a bit of NHL experience. He’s played in 107 games for the San Jose Sharks over four seasons and owns a .908 career save percentage. It isn’t world-beating, but Dell is a competent NHL backup. And, of course, Dell is also already in Canada, so the Oilers wouldn’t have to wait for him to do a two-week quarantine before joining the team.
Grabbing Dell, if possible, would make sense for the Oilers.