Oilers attempted major goalie trade before the start of the season.

The Edmonton Oilers and more specifically general manager Stan Bowman is being heavily criticized for failing to find an upgrade in goal, a failure that many believe contributed significantly to the outcome of this year's Stanley Cup Final.

But what if I told you that Bowman did in fact make efforts to find an upgrade in goal, even going so far as to attempt what could have proven to be a very risky trade for the Oilers.

In a recent article published by veteran Bruins reporter Jimmy Murphy, Murphy revealed that one of his sources within the National Hockey League was able to confirm that the Bowman and the Oilers attempted to acquire Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman during his recent contract standoff with the Bruins.

“They weren’t the only ones who had inquired about Swayman, but yes, I was told they poked around,” said the source as per RG Media.

While Swayman would have no doubt been viewed as a massive upgrade over Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard had the attempt at making a trade been successful, there are real questions to be asked about whether or not it would have helped the Oilers this season.

Swayman had a terrible season after signing his massive contract, an 8 year deal with an average annual value and cap hit of $8.25 million per season, with Swayman recording a career worst 3.11 goals against average and a career worst .892 save percentage over a 58 game regular season with the Boston Bruins.

To be fair to Swayman the Bruins as a whole imploded before our very eyes this past season, but Swayman's struggles in goal certainly contributed to that outcome.

As for why the trade never came to pass? Well according to Murphy there was never any interest on the part of Bruins general manager Don Sweeney to make the deal, with Sweeney fully committed to signing Swayman after having already traded goaltender Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators.

"Sweeney consistently said, 'No' or 'Don’t bother; we’re going to sign him,' and he made it clear how much they valued Swayman," said Murphy's source.

Bowman will without question need to seek out an upgrade in goal once again this season, but it seems highly unlikely that they would target Swayman again given his struggles last season.