Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell among likely buyout candidates
By Zach Laing
21 days agoThe Edmonton Oilers’ turnaround time from the end of the Stanley Cup Finals to the start of their offseason will be swift.
Most notably, 48 hours after the season ends, the first buyout window of the offseason will open. While last year saw nine players bought out, there’s a few names already cropping up as teams look to save money.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli looked at nine players who could be buyout options later this month, listing Oilers netminder Jack Campbell second behind Los Angeles Kings centre Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Campbell, 32, signed a five-year, $25-million contract with the Oilers in the summer of 2022, but has failed to provide any value on that deal. In his first season with the team, he appeared in 36 games posting a 3.41 GAA and .888 save percentage.
While there was hope he would be able to turn it around this season, the opposite happened. Campbell’s numbers got worse going 1-4 across five games, posting a 4.5 GAA and .873 save percentage. In early November, a week and a half before the Oilers made a coaching change to bring in Kris Knoblauch, Campbell hit waivers and was sent to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
The work he did there was good, as he went 18-13-1 posting a 2.63 GAA and .918 save percentage. But as Seravalli opined, the Oilers can save nearly $3-million by buying out his contract.
Buyout Structure: 6 seasons varying from $1.1 mil to $2.6 milScoop: Jack Campbell struggled nearly from jump street in Oil Country, seemingly unable to perform under the weight of his contract. He was waived and banished to AHL Bakersfield in November after the team’s 2-8-1 start. Campbell has been back with the team as an emergency third goaltender in the playoffs, but it was telling that he wasn’t even on Edmonton’s radar as Stuart Skinner struggled in Round 2 and they turned to journeyman Cal Pickard. They didn’t trust Campbell. It’s hard to imagine that changing. Yes, the buyout isn’t pretty, but the Oilers can’t continue with $3.85 million in buried cap space devoted to Campbell. Edmonton needs relief from that and stretching out the term of Campbell’s deal in exchange for $2.85 million in cap savings for next season makes sense.
The others players Seravalli listed were Dubois, New York Rangers centre Barclay Goodrow, Ottawa Senators goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, New York Islanders centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau, St. Louis Blues defenceman Torey Krug, Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Cal Petersen and winger Cam Atkinson, as well as Dallas Stars defenceman.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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