Would Juuse Saros be an upgrade that the Edmonton Oilers need in net to put them over the top?
B/R Open Ice: Frank Seravalli on if the Edmonton Oilers need to upgrade in net. They’re limited in cap space, trade assets, and the goalie market is thin. Would Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros be the answer?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“If you’re convinced that Stuart Skinner is not the answer, and I think we’ve seen enough of a sample size to be able to even at least ask that question. 118 games started for Stuart Skinner over the last three seasons, and a save percentage is exactly .900.
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So, slightly below league average. And you could say league-average goaltending isn’t bringing a Stanley Cup to Edmonton, and you might be right. Although his playoff numbers are pretty good, and as my pal Bob Stauffer pointed out recently on Edmonton radio, he did outduel Jake Ottinger, unequivocally one of the best goalies in the league in back-to-back Western Conference Finals to help get the Oilers to the Stanley Cup final.
But what’s out there? This is an Edmonton team that doesn’t have a ton of cap space. That doesn’t have really much to trade in terms of prospects. So how do you go out and acquire a goalie, and is Saros the answer?
I know there’s not a teaming goalie market, but Saros wouldn’t be the choice for me for a number of reasons. One, he’s entering, or he’s in the first year of an eight-year contract that will take him all the way until age 39. Two, his numbers have not been good for two consecutive seasons now, this one and last. And three, from an overall holistic perspective, for a team that doesn’t really have the cap space and hasn’t devoted the cap space to goaltending in a lot of ways.
What, what you have is what you get with, with Stuart Skinner and what they can afford to pay on their cap the last few years. That’s sort of been what they’ve been left with, is, if you’re going to devote twice as much cap space to goaltending, is Juuse Saros at five foot 11, is he the answer?
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He had a track record for a long time as one of the best goalies in the league and the backbone to the Preds franchise. But when it comes to his size and ability to win when it comes to the playoffs, that’s the big question that everyone asks about Saros. Does he make you any more comfortable if you’re an Oiler fan, given the price and the commitment on your cap? I don’t know that he does enough for me to warrant that type of acquisition.
And then the next question is, is there a price to that acquisition? Yes, we know the goaltending market is thin. This is just my view. The way I see it from 30,000 feet is the natural predator should have to pay you to take on Juuse Saros’s deal, given how much is remaining on it, and given how poor the play has been of late.”
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