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Sunday Scramble: Don’t expect Oilers to make goalie trade, media scrum drama, Bettman quiet on expansion, and more
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Photo credit: © Kevin Ng-Imagn Images
Michael Menzies
Nov 30, 2025, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 30, 2025, 12:08 EST
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What did we learn about the Edmonton Oilers this week? 
Not much. 
The Oilers have long been fans of the zig-zag. Think they’re turning the corner? No, no. That game against Dallas was a classic Oilers trap. Coming off an emotional win vs arch-nemesis Florida, they had one of their several letdown games this season. 
So in response, we see a much more concerted effort on Saturday afternoon against the offensively flailing Kraken, up there with one of their best games of the season. 
The penalty kill went a perfect 6/6. 
Tuesday against the Wild? Would any of us be surprised if the Oilers look slow, sloppy, and disinterested? I wouldn’t.
A week ago, I said this stretch would be a “hinge” part of their season, playing 6/7 at home, and a chance to really tinker under the hood of what ails the team’s play. 
It started with hysteria and rightful concern, and ended with a tidy 26-save shutout for Stu Skinner. That’s hockey, baby! We turn to December…
Five-game homestand:
  • Tuesday vs Minnesota
  • Thursday vs Seattle
  • Saturday vs Winnipeg
  • Tuesday, Dec. 9 vs Buffalo
  • Thursday, Dec. 11 vs Detroit

It wasn’t as bad as advertised

I did have a thought about the Jim Matheson/Stu Skinner drama of the week. 
In case you missed it, long-time scribe Matheson asked during a Skinner scrum: 
“The fans, every time they turn around, they want another goalie,” Matheson said. “They don’t want you. That must hurt, or does it?” 
Skinner replied: 
“It’s happened a few times here. I think it happens anywhere around the league. Goalies need to come up with big saves at big times. I’m not really too sure how much I can say on that either. That’s kind of just part of the game of being a goalie. I decided to choose that. I’m going to try and get my kids to be a player.” 
This interaction was overblown, especially if you watch the video and see how both the reporter and the player go about this interaction. It’s an intrusive question to be sure, and perhaps the phrasing wasn’t as sharp as it could’ve been, but to act like the Skinner topic wasn’t the biggest of the week would be dishonest. 
Matheson and Skinner chuckle during this exchange as it continues, with Matheson sharing an anecdote about Glenn Hall. Matheson has been vocal online, and if there is such a thing, has been pro-Skinner. 
Large portions of the fanbase were angry, but many of the same fans are the ones who slander Skinner publicly all the time. 
All I can resort to is my own history being a reporter and asking someone of authority questions (a politician, coach, player, expert, etc). There are questions that you think are important, questions that require answers for technical reasons and quotable reasons, but you also have to consider what the audience, or fanbase, wants answers for, too. 
There were times I was quite uncomfortable heading into interviews knowing I would have to be confrontational or assertive because that’s what the situation required. I had to hold the authority to task. 
The question, albeit I think phrased clumsily, isn’t out of the realm by any means. To his credit, Skinner handled it like a pro. 
I just can’t stand the same online accounts, often without their actual names attached to them, rail on and on about the goaltending, and then play shrinking violet when Skinner is grilled. It’s dishonest. 

I don’t expect a goalie trade

On the goalie trading scenarios: here’s my theory. 
GM Stan Bowman and Connor McDavid must have talked about goaltending during contract discussions. There had to be an organizational plan, and I think it was to ride out the season with Skinner and Pickard. 
However, sometimes the team tells you things through their play that necessitate a move. 
It looked like that after Tuesday’s debacle. 
But just at the salary cap. Look at all the no-trade and no-movement clauses the Oilers have. They’re snookered in terms of an in-season move.
Connor Ingram will play games for the Oilers, ready or not, I imagine. As much as it’s needed, I’d be surprised if Bowman pulls the trigger. They aren’t going to win one of these trades, dealing from a position of such weakness. But can they afford to wait? 
That’s why you pay Bowman the big bucks, but the thought of Tristan Jarry makes me shiver…I’d take Jordan Binnington 11 times out of 10 over Jarry, but the Blues are 3-1-1 in their last five. 
GM Doug Armstrong loves to send out memos to the league that his players are available and then never does it. Not to mention, he values his players higher than someone selling a used 2007 diesel pickup on Marketplace. 
“Eight grand. No low-ballers. I know what I got!!!!” 
Let’s just say the guy who carved the Oilers with two beauty offer sheets wouldn’t be my top candidate to throw the Oilers a life raft.
To the outside of Oil Country… 

Bettman speaks

Commissioner Gary Bettman gave an interview to CNBC, talking about the outlet’s projected franchise values, but the talk also touched base on expansion. 
The big takeaways are that the franchise values are doing very well, with the average franchise worth an estimated $2.2 billion. 
The Toronto Maple Leafs are projected $4.3 billion, which Bettman was quick to buttress, believing if the Leafs went on sale, they’d net much more than that. 
“We’re undervalued by CNBC,” Bettman said. 
The question about expansion was partially cut off, but 
“My instructions from ownership are, if we’re going to expand – we’re not in an expansion mode – It’s got to start with the two ($2 billion). Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. 
“And people tend to say, ‘Oh, that’s a lot of money.’ But you remember, you’re selling off a piece of your overall equity in the league. If we expand by two teams, instead of dividing national revenues by 32 teams, we’d be dividing it by 34, and there is an economic value to doing that.” 
That’s a key emphasis. The NHL will not expand by one, it will be two, but not yet. There was also talks about a partnership with prediction markets, which one of these times I’ll discuss in the Scramble. But on expansion… 

Stuff the expansion talk

Financially, expansion is dollar signs to the NHL, like prospective owners firing loonies towards the talent at Shade. 
But, surely, 32 teams is the maximum. It’s irresponsible to continue watering down the league with franchises, making the Stanley Cup more and more a lottery ticket of luck and fortune. 
Clearly, nothing is sacrosanct in the NHL anymore. They put ugly, stupid company logos on sweaters, there are digital boards on your TV screens on top of sold rink boards, every waking second is sponsored and advertised, subscription services to watch the games ratchet up significantly year by year…where is the cap? 
For a league that instituted the cap, they can’t find a cap in terms of teams. 
Thirty-two teams are enough. It’s the maximum. The nature of hockey itself is much more random than any other major sport. It’s a game played on three millimetre blades with a vulcanized piece of rubber that bounces with a mind of its own. The nature of the game makes it hard enough for the good teams to win. 
I don’t think the league should actively make it harder to win the best trophy in pro sports, plus water down the talent (all while advertising us to death), so they can try and put hockey in Atlanta a third time. 
Give me a break.

What a dawg

Kyle Palmieri registered the assist of the season. 
If you didn’t see it, the veteran Islanders forward suffered a torn ACL on Friday against the Flyers, but while struggling to the bench, stripped an unsuspecting Emil Andrae, backhand saucers the puck to Jonathan Drouin, who drops it right on the blade of Emil Heineman, who scores. 
This makes the Kobe Bryant free throws on a torn ACL years back look like child’s play. 
Best wishes to Palmieri, and what a ridiculous play. He’s played 925 regular-season games, and hopefully the recovery doesn’t put his silver stick status in jeopardy. 

More injuries

A couple other Saturday injuries of consequence. 
Logan Cooley faced a brutal knee against the Blues from Alexey Toropchenko. It looks bad, real bad. For Utah’s sake, they hope not, particularly as they’ve won just three of their last ten games. 
Plus, Adam Fox, who is second behind Cale Makar in defensive point scoring, is being evaluated after a hit from Brandon Hagel. The Rangers have played on the road nearly as much as the Oilers, and it’s actually kept their season alive, amidst a home record sitting 2-8-1. They play three of their next four at home, and the loss of Fox would be huge. 

Cooper for Adams?

The Tampa Bay Lightning are first in the East after winning their seventh game in a row on Saturday against the suffering New York Rangers. 
Lots of chatter about how Jon Cooper has never won the Jack Adams Award. The NHL typically doesn’t reward the best coaches in the league. It’s all about who outperforms expectations. 
However, the voters (the broadcasters) may look to correct past sins, sort of like actors who have been long snubbed for an Academy Award. 

Ray Ferraro

Ray Ferraro was doing colour on the Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada game in Los Angeles as the Vancouver Canucks were in town. I miss hearing Ferraro regularly. In a hockey culture where tell-you-how-I-see-it commentary is almost non-existent, Ferraro continues to deliver. 
The team of Kevin Quinn and Ray Ferraro for the Oilers is a nice dose of nostalgia back in those turbulent times. 

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