The Jeff Petry trade speculation is reaching its peak right now and the possibilities are all very interesting. Does he command a 1st round pick like Sekera and Franson did this year? He has never had an offensively minded partner and his point totals have never had a big jump so will his more subtle game mean that the he can only return to the Oilers a 2nd Round pick? We are all going to find out soon enough, but if the pick that the Oilers secure in a Jeff Petry deal is only a 2nd Rounder from a playoff team then perhaps it makes more sense to gamble on another Goaltender.
What about Goaltender Antti Raanta from Chicago?
I know exactly what you’re thinking. “Didn’t the Oilers crash and burn picking up backup goalies Scrivens and Fasth?”
Yes. They did. Both have had stretches of 2-3 games where it looks like they figured it out only to be followed up by brutal games where they give up back-breaking goals on non-chances. We aren’t talking about the “Bad Defense” excuse goals from the slot. We’re talking about the ones caused by being inexplicably out of position or ones where the puck seeming phased through the netminder like they were Patrick Swayze in Ghost.
The Oilers goaltending this year was unquestionably it greatest weakness, and that’s with having less Centers on the team than Jeopardy has contestants in one episode. Ben Scrivens has an .897 sv% and Viktor Fasth has an .888 sv%. This in a time when a .910 is what you expect from your backup! Viktor Fasth is a pending UFA with a knee injury and Ben Scrivens has one more year left on his deal to prove he can bounce back. Maybe he comes in like Devan Dubnyk did this year to prove he can play in this league. Maybe he comes in like he did this year and proves the opposite. That’s up to him, but the Oilers need to do something with their Goalie situation.
So what about Antti Raanta? He’s losing the backup job to a journeyman goalie in Scott Darling, right? So why would the Oilers be interested?
The answer to that is because Raanta is not necessarily losing that job because of performance reasons. There might be contract considerations there and given that he has a .936 sv% this season, I don’t think we should just write him off as a guy who cant even keep his job as a backup. There’s more there.
Raanta did not so great in his first year as an NHL backup, has done stellar this year as an NHL backup and has several years of stellar season in Europe. But Ben Scrivens also came into Edmonton with good numbers on a good team (19 GP .931 sv% with the Kings) and he hasn’t panned out. There’s no guarantee Raanta will look good in Oiler silks.
He’s a risk, no doubt. But is this player a greater risk than a pick in the 50-60 range at the draft? The
value of these picks is considerably low and the Oilers’ record after the 1st round is pretty suspect.
Here’s another look at Draft picks and a late 2nd rounder might have a 25% chance of ever hitting 100 NHL games, which is low. Then we have to consider that players taken in these spots are likely 3-5 years away from ever helping the team if they aren’t among the 75% that never really make it.
So I guess the question is, would you rather take a risk at the Draft table where the Oilers have been burned before or take a risk on a backup goalie where the Oilers have been burned before?
And it doesn’t have to be Raanta, although speculation is that he’s available. It can be some other backup or even prospect goaltender. One of the hottest goalie prospects on the planet is probably Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and they’ve been linked to Petry in the past. He’s a big piece to give up and it would likely take more than Petry to pry him loose. There are others too though.
The point is that when it comes to losing Jeff Petry, the Oilers are going to be losing their best defenseman. That’s a blow that will be extremely difficult to overcome. A 1st round pick would be a great return. A 1st and a prospect even better. But if that pick is topped out at a 2nd rounder and there’s a deal to be made that could potentially solidify the team in Net, then for me it’s a no brainer.
If given the option of gambling on a 2nd round pick or gambling on a different goalie then I’m taking the goalie every time.
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