The Colorado Avalanche finally got their guy packing up Alexander Georgiev, forward Nikolai Kovalenko and future second and fifth-round picks to nab Mackenzie Blackwood from the San Jose Sharks.
In Edmonton, those who wander the pages of salary cap management sites were incensed with Stan Bowman and company letting the opportunity pass them by. And while there’s a legitimate argument to be made over Blackwood is one of the more underrated goalies in the NHL.
He’s kept his save percentage to the tune of .909 while saving 6.8 goals above expected on one of the worst teams in the NHL. The league averages for both this season, mind you, are .898 and 1.0, so it’s easy to say he’s punched well above his weight class. Skinner and Calvin Pickard have duelling .892 save percentages, while the former has -3.5 goals saved above expected and Pickard -2.9, for those asking at home.
So it’s understandable to see that frustration, but whether you like it or not, the Edmonton Oilers weren’t in a place to replicate the trade.
San Jose clearly was looking for a “starting goaltender” in return, ala Georgiev being included in the deal, while 25-year-old Nikolai Kovalenko, who is playing his first season in the NHL with four goals and eight points in 28 games, is a professional hockey player, which the Oilers have a few of. The Oilers had the draft picks, a 2026 second-rounder and a 2025 fifth-rounder, in tow. Edmonton wasn’t going to be trading Skinner, given it’s been made clear the team is going to “sink or swim” with him, and it’s likely safe to say Pickard doesn’t carry the same value as Georgiev, even considering all of his struggles this season.
But the answer to Edmonton’s inability to make this trade doesn’t lie there: it lies in the fact that the front office has made their bed. They have limited cap space, $385,312 as of Monday night, to be exact, and with Evander Kane’s placement on the LTIR, are trying to accumulate as much cap space as possible ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline.
They’re the ones who signed Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry, Connor Brown and Pickard to the monies owed this season. They’re the ones who didn’t look to upgrade on Pickard, instead betting on a 32-year-old who spent more time in the AHL than the NHL in his career. They’re the ones who didn’t target Eric Comrie or Casey DeSmith or Scott Wedgewood or Cam Talbot or Anthony Stolarz in free agency, all of whom are signed for within $ 1.5 million of Pickard, and all posting better numbers than either of Edmonton’s goaltenders.
Like it or not, the Oilers have made it clear they want to wait until as close to the NHL’s Trade Deadline as possible to make sure they maximize the cap space they accrue, and that was clear from the salary cap gymnastics they went through to get Evander Kane on the LTIR and still be under the salary cap.
There’s no denying the fact that watching a team below you in the standings pushing to address roster issues can be frustrating to see happen. Colorado, with the worst save percentage in the league, needed to do something because what was happening internally wasn’t anywhere near good enough, hence the trade for Scott Wedgewood last week, and yesterday’s for Blackwood.
Edmonton, at the very least, is seeing signs of significant improvement in the crease. Since November 23rd, Skinner and Pickard have combined for a .926 save percentage, the second-best number over that stretch, in the six games they’ve played as the team has gone 5-1 in that time. The league average save percentage over that mark? .892.
If things continue to trend in that direction then that’s a huge win for the team, but if cracks begin to appear over a long stretch again, one has to wonder if the Oilers front office will be forced into making a move.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
