I don't want to blame goaltending alone for the Edmonton Oilers' current plight. The team is not good either offensively or defensively, even strength or on special teams, at home or on the road. Several areas need to be addressed for the Oilers to climb into playoff contention, so fixing one issue isn't going to magically turn everything around. However, the goaltending needs to be fixed before the club can take meaningful steps forward.
When a horrendously ugly human wants to become more attractive, either through surgery or other methods, they start with the face. When bad hockey teams need to win hockey games, shoring up netminding can have the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time. Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish could save himself a lot of grief and drastically increase his job security by bringing in a legitimate starting goaltender.
By legitimate, I don't mean someone who could potentially be a starter or projects to develop into one someday, but a goaltender who has already done the job for a playoff team and proven they can handle the load. Prior to Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators, Ben Scrivens had a .897 save percentage, which ranked 49th in the NHL. Viktor Fasth sits at 58th, with a .885 save percentage. That's not nearly good enough.
Scrivens and Fasth aren't being hung out to dry, and playing on a bad team doesn't mean that a goaltender will perform poorly. The Florida Panthers are shuffling along around .500 this season, but Roberto Luongo has a .928 save percentage. Michal Neuvirth plays for a team that's already been left for dead, but has a .915 save percentage. If only those guys had been on the trading block at some point last season. Whoops!
I know exactly what you're thinking/muttering. Garner, everybody wants a reliable starting goalie, but they don't grow on goalie trees. Besides, even if they did, the Oilers don't have time to plant the goalie seeds, and then wait for a goalie tree to take root, sprout, and produce goalie fruit. You're right, but there's an obvious solution to the Oilers' most pressing problem, and he's dying for an opportunity to prove himself: James Reimer.
Reimer has been a starting goaltender for a playoff team. He's proven that he can handle the load in a Canadian market with a rabid fanbase. Plus, he already beat out Scrivens for a starting job when the duo played together for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2012-13 season. Reimer was outplayed by Jonathan Bernier last season and lost the starter role, but he would provide a significant upgrade over either Fasth or Scrivens.
Amazingly, Reimer is cheaper than Fasth and has the same contract as Scrivens, making $2.3 million this season and next before hitting unrestricted free agency. He has a 2.65 goals against average and .925 save percentage this season, and there's no doubt that he could be pried out of Toronto for the right return. The Leafs could use a defenceman (Jeff Petry?) or a scoring winger (David Perron?) so a deal is there to be made.
What other options do the Oilers have between the pipes? They could stick with what they have, cross their fingers and hope a guy like Neuvirth or Antti Niemi hits the free agent market next summer, or pull the trigger on a deal to address the situation after stumbling along for years. Reimer is the obvious choice, and might provide enough goaltending stability to salvage the season before the hole begins too deep to climb out of.
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