The Edmonton Oilers have dealt with some questionable goaltending at times this season, and despite Stuart Skinner's recent turnaround, they may still look at goalie options.
Earlier this season while Skinner was struggling, the Oilers were reportedly willing to sink or swim with their current tandem.
Now that they're out of crisis mode and things have come together recently, they could be in a less desperate position to make a deal for a goalie.
According to Alan Mitchell in a recent piece for the Athletic, management may be interested in such a move.
"There may be an appetite to add another goaltender to the current group."- Alan Mitchell, The Athletic
In a separate piece for Lowetide, Mitchell suggested that Stan Bowman has less attachment to Skinner, being a different manager from the one who drafted and developed him.
The Oilers goaltending is a definite weaker point of the roster, and Bowman may be exploring upgrading on Skinner.
"It is possible the new general manager sees goaltending as an area that needs improvement at the deadline, and there will be some options for trade. Something to contemplate between now and the deadline. I would stick to Skinner, but Bowman has no ties to Edmonton's current starter and I can see a deal in the next seven months, possibly sooner than later.- Alan Mitchell
Stuart Skinner's save percentage has now climbed to an .893 after a very rough start, but the Oilers still rank toward the back of the NHL in most goaltending stats. If an injury occurred to either Oilers goalie too, there could be a crisis on their hands.
Mitchell seems to believe there could be an appetite from the Oilers to upgrade on Stuart Skinner, instead of improving on Calvin Pickard.
The biggest benefit to having Skinner as a starter is that at the end of the year, the local kid overperforms his bargain salary of $2.6M.
It benefits the Oilers tight to the cap now, but with the salary cap expected to increase $17.5M in the next two years, they could certainly find room to spend more in the crease.
The most established starting goalie available on the trade market this year is Ducks goalie John Gibson, who would reportedly waive his no-trade clause to join Edmonton.
The 31 year old goalie makes $6.1M for the next two years, and has been decent this year with a .906 save percentage.
Stan Bowman will have limited cap space and resources at the trade deadline, but could be gearing up for a trade that would make the Oilers look entirely different.
