For the past several weeks, trade chatter has been getting loud in Edmonton with the Oilers reportedly actively looking for an upgrade in between the pipes. The Oilers have been taking a closer look at teams that currently carry three goaltenders, including the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets.
It had been mentioned how Edmonton could be interested in Habs netminder Samuel Montembeault if he had been unable to come to terms with Kent Hughes on a new contract. However on Friday morning, the Habs announced they had signed the goalie to a three-year $3.15M AAV extension. It however does not include trade protection.
Rumours only grew when no less than three Oilers scouts, including the team’s assistant general manager Brad Holland, were present for Wednesday night’s game between the Canadiens and the Blue Jackets in Columbus. They could have been taking a closer look at Montembeault then, but he was not necessarily the only player they were watching.
According to insiders Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, those three same scouts were also present in Columbus last Monday for the contest against the Boston Bruins when Spencer Martin was in net for the Blue Jackets. This is what Friedman reported on the situation that could lead to a trade between Edmonton and Columbus:
“For the second time this week, three Edmonton executives/scouts were in Columbus. Monday, goalie Spencer Martin beat Boston. Wednesday, Elvis Merzlikins faced Montreal. There’s reason for speculation. Daniil Tarasov is close to returning, meaning they’ve got one too many goalies, unless the Blue Jackets plan to keep three. Edmonton plays Thursday in Winnipeg and then not until next Wednesday versus Carolina.”
The Jackets could bring back talented goalie prospect Daniil Tarasov from injury any time soon, and the team could therefore look into moving one of its three goalies on the trade market as Elvis Merzlikins could also be in Edmonton’s sights.
If not, the goalie in sights for the Oilers might simply be Jack Campbell, who has been playing - poorly - with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, but could still get a call-up to see what needs to be done in Edmonton ahead of the postseason to fix the goaltending issues.
It was also recently reported Holland could be tempted to look at one of his former goalies in Petr Mrazek of the Chicago Blackhawks in a move that’s not too risky and could bring improvement to the Edmonton’s net. Fans were also recently reminded how the Oilers have been linked in the past to St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, who’s led the Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2018-19 and has posted a 6-5-1 record this season with a 2.89 GAA.
New goalie coming to Edmonton, you think?
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