Stuart Skinner didn’t help himself last Friday night against the Colorado Avalanche when he allowed three goals in the opening period, which led to head coach Kris Knoblauch opting to yank the tender after 20 minutes. Now, the conversation surrounding the Oilers needing to find his replacement has never been louder, especially now that the league is on a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The name some fans are clamouring for is John Gibson. Gibson, 31, is still with the Anaheim Ducks and is having a bounce-back season after many down years. He has a 0.915 save percentage along with a 2.65 goals-against average. The stat many are pointing out as a reason why he would work in Edmonton is his goals saved above average, which is 6.48 and good enough for 13th in the NHL according to Natural Stat Trick.
Whilst the craving for Gibson grows stronger. The salary cap seems to have been forgotten. Gibson has a cap hit of $6.4 million with two years remaining after this one. The Oilers have $207,337 available cap space today but can accrue up to $947,824 by the trade deadline. Additionally, if Evander Kane remains out until the postseason then Edmonton can dip into their LTIR money of $5,124,947.
However, Kane remaining sidelined until night one of the playoffs isn’t a foregone conclusion.
“The more I talk to people around the league, it is not a certainty that Evander Kane doesn’t come back before the playoffs,” said Frank Seravalli on Oilersnation Everyday. The Oilers truly do not have an idea or an answer yet, and may not get one until a week before the deadline as to whether or not they can spend that money.”
“If they can’t spend that money,” continued Seravalli. “We are talking about dollar in dollar out. You can take any John Gibson or, frankly, any goaltending addition and chuck it out the window because they don’t have the money to do it.”
Kane returning to the lineup, while positive because of his abilities, would throw a huge wrench in the team’s plans. The latest update on Kane’s health, prior to what Seravalli mentioned, was on January 10th from the team. In a press release, the Oilers stated that “forward Evander Kane underwent successful knee surgery on Thursday in Edmonton. It is expected that he will require four to eight weeks of recovery time.” That eight-week timeline concludes on March 7, which is also known as NHL Trade Deadline Day.
In the past, teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights have left star players on the Long-Term Injured Reserve until the start of the playoffs in order to get salary cap relief during the regular season. Since there’s no salary cap to adhere to in the playoffs, these teams can load up and activate their injured stars immediately following the regular season. While the Oilers have never explicitly said this is their plan with Kane, it’s been widely assumed they’re using this LTIR strategy.
Stan Bowman has hinted in a couple of interviews recently that he’d like to add another defenceman, specifically a left shot. Furthermore, he gave off the vibe that he wanted to add more depth in general. With what Seravalli is suggesting, adding depth may be the only option for Edmonton.
“We know they have limited assets and we now know their cap space could be very limited,” continued Seravalli. “We are living in a world where we might see the Oilers make a fourth-line centre acquisition and that’s it.”
Having Kane back before the playoffs is a good thing too. Allowing him to ease back into the lineup down the final stretch of the regular season would help him be more effective in the playoffs. With or without him, Edmonton has a great team. They’re first in the Pacific Division, third in the Western Conference, and fourth in the NHL.
An addition of a big-name player would push this team to another level. However, they’re also not in dire need of having to splash everything they have. While it’s not glamorous, perhaps adding a couple of small pieces and raising the floor of the roster could be just as impactful as a single big splash.
