The Edmonton Oilers already made a goalie trade.
They got Tristan Jarry earlier this season from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deal that sent Stuart Skinner the other way. That was supposed to solve their problems in net.
It hasn’t.
And with the NHL trade deadline on Friday, maybe the Oilers owe it to themselves to try again.
That’s what The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe wrote in a new article on Wednesday. His premise is that the Oilers, in this Connor McDavid era, can’t afford to just take a medium swing, not connect and give up.
They’ve got to go for it again.
“Yes, they already tried that,” McIndoe writes. “It didn’t work. Tristan Jarry isn’t the answer, which is a possibility everyone saw at the time. One nice part about that move was that it came early enough in the season that there was time to pivot if it was clear Jarry wasn’t the guy. Well, he’s not. Pivot time is here.”
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McIndoe goes on to suggest two high-profile replacement options.
The first: Jordan Binnington from the St. Louis Blues, Team Canada’s Olympic goalie.
“He’s been bad this year on a hopeless team, but looked good at the Olympics,” McIndoe writes. “Connor McDavid has won a big game or two with that guy.”
The other? Sergei Bobrovsky. Yep, the guy who led the Florida Panthers past the Oilers in each of the last two Stanley Cup finals.
“What about Sergei Bobrovsky, the goalie who beat them twice in the final, who could be available as a rental?” McIndoe wonders.
In the end, he just thinks the Oilers need to maximize their superstars that they have right now, and Jarry isn’t doing that. He’s got a point.
“You have McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and a fan base that deserves to see them finally finish the story,” McIndoe writes. “Depth moves are nice, but you mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling. Find your target, and take the shot.”
