Crowded crease

The Oilers goaltending situation just got a little fuzzier. The Sarnia Observer is reporting that the Oilers have signed tryout goaltender Andrew Perugini to a contract. Dave MacQueen, Sarnia’s head coach, had some kind words for the departing goaltender: "It’s great for Andrew. He’s a quality kid who got overlooked in a couple of NHL drafts. We’ve always been of the opinion that he was a top-end goalie in this league and never could figure out why he wasn’t drafted." The terms of the contract aren’t completely clear, but based on the training camp roster, it looks like an AHL/ECHL contract. The Oilers goaltending depth now looks something like this:

Garon and Roloson are assured jobs at the NHL level this season, and while pre-training camp reports had Jeff Deslauriers likely to start the season in Edmonton, that’s anything but a sure thing. Reports from the Joey Moss Cup are mixed, but based on Deslauriers’ track record the last three seasons, I don’t think there’s any real reason to believe that he is ready for a regular NHL job. Given too that there other teams with legitimate goaltenders going to the minors (Nolan Schaefer in Minnesota springs to mind), I don’t think that there is much of a waiver risk involved in sending Deslauriers to the minors. Even if Deslauriers stays up, I doubt that Glenn Fisher sees a ton of game action. Devan Dubnyk is expected to be the starter in Springfield, and both Bryan Pitton and Andrew Perugini are legitimate prospects who need development time. Fisher, on the other hand, is a 25-year old goaltender coming off a middling ECHL season, and I don’t think the organization can afford to give him many starts. Kevin Prendergast indicated earlier that the Oilers may chose to rotate the backup position in Springfield between Fisher, Pitton and Perugini. If I had to guess, I would imagine that the Oilers make Pitton the priority, given that he’s the only one of the three goaltenders on an NHL Entry Level deal. I’d also say that if the junior numbers are anything to go by, Perugini emerges as the best of the three goaltenders by the mid-season mark. Regardless of the situation, this is the best set of minor league goaltenders that the Oilers have had during Lowe’s tenure—there are four guys in the system with a legitimate shot at eventual NHL duty. —Jonathan Willis knows whatchoo talkin’ bout. He blogs about it at Copper and Blue, as well as here at OilersNation.