Bad news for the Oilers with training camp just around the corner…

Training camps start in about two weeks across the National Hockey League and the fansbase in Edmonton is not going to be thrilled about the latest report on the Oilers from James Mirtle of The Athletic.

Mirtle has put it out there that he barely saw any legitimate goalie trade targets for the Oilers this season.

The insider is adamant that the goalie market is thin this season. Many teams are opting for inexperienced options as backups, making it less likely they’ll move a starter. There aren’t a lot of teams carrying two veterans that would be considered potential No. 1 netminders and he stated that, perhaps, the Oilers could target teams that had hoped for a better season but ended up struggling out of the gate and shed talent aggressively, like the Boston did last season.

“But who is that team?, asked Mirtle in his mailbag.

He attempted to bring some options to the table, though none of those individual options is an upgrade over the Oilers’ current tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.

“Detroit, I guess, could move off of either John Gibson or Cam Talbot if they struggle, with top prospect Sebastian Cossa on the way. But it really feels like the Red Wings will be in a playoff race late in the season, with some of their young players taking the next step. The Islanders and Mammoth potentially have extra goalies, assuming improved health for Semyon Varlamov and Connor Ingram, but do either of them offer an upgrade to Edmonton? Vancouver has a lot of dough committed to their tandem, but they just signed them and gave both Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen no-movement clauses. Then there’s Anaheim with Petr Mrazek as the backup?”

To put it plain and simple, and somewhat as bad news for the fanbase in Edmonton, Mirtle believes it will take something unexpected for the Oilers to find a suitable goalie upgrade this season…

Perhaps an expected contender will end up falling out of the playoff chase early, or the Oilers getting desperate enough to part with prime assets to acquire a premium goalie from a club with a solid two-goalie tandem like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils and the Washington Capitals. Not sure one of these teams would risk breaking up their tandems, especially if they have a shot at a long playoff run.

It could mean that Skinner and Pickard remain the ones holding down the fort in Edmonton.