Devin Shore clears waivers, but should the Edmonton Oilers claim a goalie?

Edmonton Oilers forward Devin Shore cleared waivers Wednesday morning and will remain with the team.

But another name popped up on the wire that has me wondering if the Oilers should put in a claim. For the second time this year, 25-year-old goalie Eric Comrie has found himself on waivers.

While Comrie has only played in nine NHL games posting a 3-5 record and a .873 save percentage, he’s been highly touted as a high-end goaltending prospect for years. Comrie has been developing his game in the AHL since being drafted in the second round of the 2013 draft. There, Comrie’s posted a .911 save percentage and an 87-92-32 record over 203 games.

And interestingly enough, Comrie has some links to the Edmonton area. A native of the city, his half-brother is former Edmonton Oiler Mike Comrie.

He was picked up on waivers earlier in the year by the New Jersey Devils amid a time when the club had a number of players on the COVID-19 protocol list.

It’s been the long-road to the NHL for Comrie but as we all know, it does take goaltenders longer to develop as NHL players. Comrie, however, has the potential to be a good NHL goaltender in the long-run and this is an Oilers organization that doesn’t have much in terms of solid goaltending prospects.

The Oilers goaltenders have struggled this year. Mikko Koskinen looks worn down after carrying a heavy load to start the year and after a hot start for Mike Smith in his first two games, he faltered heavily against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Comrie’s contract is cheap, too, at only $700,000 for the remainder of this season, and could always be placed on waivers if things didn’t work out.