Oilers trying to avoid making panic trade: report
Things feel a bit better this weekend for the Edmonton Oilers, but there is still plenty of work left for them to do if they want to salvage their season.
The team is coming off a dominant 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday that saw their record improve to 3-9-1 on the season. The win helps the Oilers get out of last place in the league, but they still remain eight points back of a playoff spot.
Lots of speculation was swirling around the team last week, with rumours that the Oilers were considering a coaching change and were interested in trading for a goalie. However, head coach Jay Woodcroft is still behind the bench, and the team is still working with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard as their goaltending tandem.
This decision to stand pat and wait for improvement to come from within the organization apparently comes from a desire to avoid making a panic move, according to Elliotte Friedman’s reporting in the latest Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada last night.
“[The Oilers] did what all of you would expect; they spent a lot of this week calling around the league trying to see what was available out there,” reported Friedman. “The one thing [Edmonton] made very clear is they weren’t going to make a desperate, dumb deal.
“The problem with that is that other teams say, ‘Hey look, we’re happy to just wait things out right now it’s still early.’ So I don’t think Edmonton found a trade partner, well, they didn’t find a trade partner on anything they thought could be reasonable, so they have to figure it out themselves.”
Saturday Headlines/32: Zadorov/Oilers/Montembeaulthttps://t.co/BSyAF6OzwA
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 12, 2023
Friedman also said that he doesn’t believe the Oilers have given up on the season quite yet.
It should be no surprise that Oilers GM Ken Holland has been working the phones lately. Reports connected the team to Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros and St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington last week. These reports came shortly after the team waived veteran goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL.
Getting back in the win column against Seattle was a positive development, but it won’t be enough to absolve the team of their performance so far this season.
Friedman added that there is a chance things change if they are unable to start winning on a consistent basis.
“If things don’t get better, something is going to have to change. [Edmonton] knows they can’t keep going like this.”
We’ll see if the Oilers can string together their first win streak of the season as they head back to Edmonton to take on the New York Islanders on Monday night.