Deadline choices might come back to bite the Oilers as the playoff competition gets tough.
Before the trade deadline, Edmonton was really active, focusing on important areas they needed to improve. They strengthened their defense by getting Connor Murphy, improved their center position with Jason Dickinson, and earlier in December, they made a big move to get goalie Tristan Jarry in a major trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It seemed like the Oilers were setting themselves up for a strong playoff run.
However, the statistics suggest something different. Rory Boylen from Sportsnet notes, “If the playoffs started today, the Oilers probably wouldn’t even be using the goalie they traded for this season. Jarry has a save percentage of . 862 in 13 games with the team, which is 30 points lower than Connor Ingram, who they picked up as a wild-card in the offseason. ”
Even though there was talk about Edmonton possibly wanting to make a deal for goalies like Jordan Binnington or Sergei Bobrovsky before the trade deadline on Friday, the Oilers had already traded for one goalie this season and had other positions they needed to improve.
Now, there are still some doubts: can Jarry get better, or will Ingram be the more trustworthy choice? To make matters worse, last night Ingram got hurt after a hit with Nathan MacKinnon from the Colorado Avalanche, which adds more uncertainty to the goalie situation in Edmonton.
Since good goaltending is essential for a strong playoff journey, the Oilers might end up regretting that they didn’t make a bigger move for a goalie before the deadline.
I guess we will just have to wait and see…
Leave a Reply