Good Goaltending: Targeting Net Talent in Edmonton

What’s up, OilersNation family? It’s emergency call-up goaltender Cat here with some goaltender takes for you to digest on this fine Monday morning. 

Let’s talk acquisitions. 

This season, Cam Talbot did exactly what I expected him to; he established himself as a clear NHL goaltender who could survive behind the Oilers, and he didn’t run off crying into a corner in the process. 

For the Oilers – especially this season’s perennially-injured, still-rebuilding Oilers – that’s about as good as we could have asked for. 

Behind him, though, Anders Nilsson remained a sore spot for me. I wasn’t a fan of his when he was with the New York Islanders, and his still-not-controlled play was torn apart at times behind the Edmonton roster. It takes quite a bit of composure to put up anything above a .900 in all situations over a sustained period of time in Edmonton, and Nilsson just wasn’t able to cut it. 

My expectation, of course, was that Laurent Brossoit – who has been great at the AHL level and held his own in his first few NHL starts – would be able to come in post-trade and take the backup job. 

That didn’t prove to be the case. 

It’s entirely possible that Brossoit still has NHL abilities. I’m not sold on him being a bust just yet – but that being said, I’d like to see him get some more AHL time before he’s thrown to the wolves (aka, made to start behind the Oilers regularly). As a result, let’s talk goaltender acquisition. 

I know – wait, why isn’t Freddie Andersen number one? 

Hear me out. 

A technically skilled goaltender who’s had to play behind some pretty atrocious defensive coverage in Winnipeg over the last few years, Hutchinson has proven that he’ll likely be able to play second fiddle to Cam Talbot without wanting to run screaming for the hills. 

He’s also got decent size and a calm demeanor in net; where I think Nilsson’s challenge-heavy style didn’t mesh well with Edmonton’s defensive lapses, I think Hutchinson’s slightly more conservative play would be fine here. 

He’s still a Western Conference acquisition, but he’s not a divisional rival – which is what gives him the edge, to me, over Andersen as a target for Edmonton in terms of team willingness to pull the trigger on the deal. 

He’s also got both Eric Comrie and Connor Hellebuyck behind him in Winnipeg – and while the Jets almost certainly would rather see Pavelec out the door than Hutchinson to make room for wunderkind Hellebuyck, I don’t see many teams willing to take on that cap hit. 

He’s an RFA this summer, so it won’t be the easiest acquisition – but if Edmonton is willing to strike a deal with Winnipeg, that’s a team that needs to clear out some of their goaltending depth. 

The Anaheim Ducks are in dire straits this summer. 

They’ve got to get deals done for *takes deep breath* Sami Vatanen – Hampus Lindholm – Freddie Andersen – Rickard Rakell – Brandon Pirri – David Perron – Jamie McGinn – Shawn Horcoff – Chris Stewart – Mike Santorelli – Korbinian Holzer. 

Even assuming they don’t retain all of these guys, that’s still a lot of roster spots that either need to be re-signed or replaced; add in the likely need to up some of these deals to higher salaries, and that’s not a pretty summer in Anaheim. 

The Ducks could ostensibly give up either John Gibson *or* Andersen, but the fact remains that they won’t be able to retain both for much longer and afford them. So, as the Oilers, you target the one who likely wants to get paid this summer.

The trouble here will be convincing the club to deal within the division, so this could be a tough steal. 

If the Oilers want to try out a tandem of Andersen and Talbot, though, here’s a guy I offer sheet – the Ducks probably won’t want to commit to matching a deal, and spending a couple million on each of Andersen and Talbot could make for a powerful net in the next few seasons. Teams don’t use offer sheets enough; be the change you want to see in the world, Chia!

Who’s got two thumbs and is a pending free agent this summer? 

Optimus Reim!

I’m still not convinced that Reimer is a clear-cut starter, but maintain that he’d make a great tandem – especially with Talbot. He’s not overly injury-prone, he’s not overly aggressive, and he (like Hutchinson) has experience playing behind absolutely awful defense. 

For Edmonton, that should always be a huge selling point – but he’s got plenty of those beyond that. He was a late bloomer technique-wise, but he’s one of the league’s goaltenders who has alluded to use of head trajectory recently – a technique that focuses on head movement to help with tracking (and therefore positioning and save-making and all the things that the Oilers don’t always have in goaltenders). 

The Sharks may be looking to hold on to him, but he’s also an unrestricted free agent this summer. Getting him won’t require an offer sheet, just the willingness to commit to a contract that he’ll find attractive. It’ll likely take more than a year, and it’ll likely take more than $2.5 million per season; it could be affordable, but Edmonton will need to convince Reimer that he wants to join them and not take a full starting gig somewhere like Calgary. 

Up to this point, I’ve been bringing up names that I think could tandem with Cam Talbot for anywhere between the next two and five seasons. That’s not the case with Howard. 

Aging and no longer a clear-cut starter, Jimmy Howard lost his starting gig in Detroit to younger netminder Petr Mrazek this season – and with the team desperate for cap space, he may find himself on the way out this summer. He knows it, and he’s accepted it. 

For Edmonton, this would be a one year stopgap fix in net, so it’s only an option if management is sure Brossoit will be ready to go after one more year of development. If that’s the case, though, Howard is a great option; he’s been around for a while (leadership! locker room presence! experience! wisdom!) and he won’t try to steal the starting gig from Talbot. 

He’s also a player that the Oilers could probably acquire in addition to another asset – and that’s where the bulk of his value will come in. If he’s moved, it will be because the Red Wings need a salary dump; in order to get him, the Oilers could demand another piece they want as payment for ‘helping out’ the Red Wings with their atrocious money management. It’s not an in-conference deal, so it could certainly happen – and it’s not the worst idea ever. If the Oilers want a middle man fit, Howard is who I target.