Oilers will eventually need to find another goaltender
Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Cam Talbot’s agent George Bazos said that GM Peter Chiarelli did talk to Talbot about Koskinen’s extension.
“To Peter’s credit, he did talk to Cam and let him know they were signing Koskinen.”
If the Oilers are not in the playoff race at the deadline, they’ll look to trade Talbot.
The Oilers would need to acquire another goalie through trade or free agency for next season as they don’t have anyone currently in the organization that is ready.
One potential trade option could be Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Tristan Jarry. The Penguins just signed their backup Casey DeSmith to a three-year extension.
Pending unrestricted free agents that could be options for the Oilers are veteran Brian Elliott or Cam Ward.
Talbot has a 10 team trade list. Teams that could be looking for a goaltender for next season include the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Ottawa Senators.
The Oilers have plenty of holes that need filling
TSN: Bob McKenzie was on TSN 1050 talking about the Edmonton Oilers and notes that there are big holes throughout their lineup when you look outside of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
“…when you look at their blueline and see how bereft it is of top-end defenscmen and probably lacking depth as well – you look at it and you say, ‘Where’s the path to get better,’”
“So even if they do decide to make a regime change with the general manager, when the new general manager – this is why I think Edmonton Oilers fans are upset, because whether it’s us on the outside looking in or Oilers fans or media looking at it, they’re going, ‘Okay, so you bring the new GM in and you’re in Year 4 of the Connor McDavid life cycle here, and so what do you do? Okay, maybe we should trade our first-round pick. Maybe we should trade Jesse Puljujarvi.’ Do you really think that those moves are going to cure what ails the Edmonton Oilers?”