Canadiens: Oilers Goaltending Woes Reigniting Rumors

You think there couldn’t be more rumors surrounding the Montreal Canadiens? Think again.

The Edmonton Oilers received a double-whammy of bad news this week regarding their goaltending. First, Mikko Koskinen announced he has signed a two-year contract to play in Switzerland. Second, it was also announced that Mike Smith will not be playing at all in 2022-23 and will spend the entirety of the season on the LTIR.

It’s almost a miracle that Mike Smith lasted this long in the NHL. While never a spectacular goalie, nor dominating in the numbers department and seemingly always carrying some sort of ailment, Smith did manage to carve himself a respectable 16 year career in the NHL. After being drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 5th round of the 2001 draft, Smith had stints in Dallas, Tampa Bay, Phoenix/Arizona, Calgary and Edmonton.

As for Koskinen, he was simply never able to translate his overseas success to North-American ice. The 6’7″ Finnish goaltender became a star in the KHL after failing to impress at the NHL level after being drafted in the second round by the Islanders in 2009. After 4 disastrous NHL games, he would bounce around the AHL and ECHL before finally backing his bags for the SM-Liiga, then finally for the KHL.

This sudden news puts Ken Holland in a more severe predicament than expected. Already that the Oilers have been in dire need of goaltending for years now, they suddenly find themselves with no one to man the net at all.

The Canadiens were strongly tied to the Oilers at this past season’s trade deadline during the Brett Kulak trade. We reported to you that the trade was delayed because both teams were working hard on expanding the trade in order to add Jake Allen to the deal, however things finally fell through. This could re-open the negotiation doors and not only would Allen be an excellent piece to the Oilers, but this time the Canadiens would be the ones negotiating with even more power as Edmonton would be a little more desperate. Also never underestimate a goaltender of Allen’s pedigree coming in with a $2.875 million cap hit.

Furthermore, the Canadiens can then immediately turn around and give the New York Rangers some help as well. Both Julien Gauthier, who recently signed a one year, one way, $800,000 deal as well as pending restricted free agent goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, have asked for trades out of the Big Apple. Both players were at one time linked to the Canadiens last season as well.

Where the Canadiens stand to win in such a trade is that Rangers GM Chris Drury recently found out that two of his forwards, Andrew Copp and Ryan Strome, have announced to their team that they will be walking in free agency. While someone will be overpaying for Copp’s success on a bolstered Rangers offense, the Blue Shirts will definitely miss Strome’s consistency and leadership. While the Canadiens don’t have a plethora of quality forwards to give away, attempting to dangle a Mike Hoffman or Joel Armia couldn’t be too far fetched of an idea.

Of course the idea looks great on paper, now it’s just a matter of selling it to the rival GM’s.

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