Oilers tried to trade for Boston goalies over the summer: report

It appears the Edmonton Oilers were trying to make a splash this summer to upgrade their goaltending situation.

Heading into the offseason, the Oilers weren’t expected to make any big changes to their roster. A tight cap meant limited wiggle room for bringing in expensive contracts, which kept the team from being as bold as fans might have liked.

GM Ken Holland only made one significant addition in signing Connor Brown. Yet, a recent report from Boston Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy seems to indicate that Holland had much larger ambitions.

The report alleges that Holland called the Boston Bruins to check in on the availability of goaltenders Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark.

Acquiring either Bruins goalie would represent an upgrade on what Edmonton currently has in net.

Ullmark is coming off a Vezina Trophy-winning season that saw him put up a 40-6-1 record with an outstanding .938 save percentage. Swayman, on the other hand, went 24-6-4 with a .920 save percentage. It’s clear that the Bruins have an embarrassment of riches in net.

It might seem obvious to keep both goaltenders but, during the summer, the Bruins were also tight to the cap and were having some issues signing Swayman, who was a restricted free agent.

Eventually, both sides were able to agree to a one-year deal in arbitration worth $3.475 million.

During those contract negotiations, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Bruins checked the trade market on Ullmark or Swayman.

Alas, there wasn’t enough traction in trade talks for anything to actually come to fruition, though there is always a possibility the two teams connect sometime in the future.

Both Skinner and Campbell have had rough starts to the season, with both Oilers netminders sitting with matching .750 save percentages after the opening two games.

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