Head coach Kris Knoblauch and the Edmonton Oilers are in a real mess with their goaltending as the NHL trade deadline gets closer.
Earlier this season, general manager Stan Bowman made a huge risk. He traded their homegrown goalie Stuart Skinner and a dependable defenseman Brett Kulak to the Pittsburgh Penguins to get veteran goalie Tristan Jarry.
The management truly thought that getting Jarry would fix their ongoing problems with their goaltending. Instead, this big trade has turned out to be a disaster.
Skinner has been amazing since he joined the Penguins, helping them climb up the rankings.
On the other hand, Jarry has been a complete failure in Edmonton. He has been taken out of the game several times and keeps having trouble making saves, ending up with a bad save percentage below . 890 since the trade.
A Big Goaltending Upgrade Is Necessary
With their chance to win the Stanley Cup wide open, Edmonton can’t waste the best years of their star players on poor goaltending. NHL analyst Pierre McGuire recently offered a big solution to this clear issue.
During a recent talk on TSN690, McGuire strongly recommended that the Oilers should quickly try to get superstar goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Florida Panthers just announced they are ready to sell their players after a series of bad losses. They are very open to letting go of their upcoming free agents, and Bobrovsky is currently at the top of that list.
If the Oilers are truly serious about making a strong playoff run and winning the Cup this spring, going after Bobrovsky is definitely a smart move.
Bringing in a veteran goalie like Bobrovsky, who has a lot of playoff experience, would quickly improve their defensive play and let the offense work more freely.
Even though Bowman doesn’t have much money to spend at the moment, it’s really important to deal with those money issues when a championship is at stake.
The Edmonton management team should be ready for a lot of stress leading up to Friday afternoon.
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