The Dallas Stars suffered a five-game elimination at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final, and all the talk was the poor play of Jake Oettinger, who allowed two goals on two shots before getting pulled by Pete DeBoer. It was a disappointing end to Oettinger's season, but even more drama unfolded after the game when DeBoer threw his starting goaltender under the bus.
"I didn't blame it all on Jake, but the reality is if you go back to last year's playoffs, he's lost six of seven games to Edmonton," DeBoer told reporters. "And we give up two goals on two shots in an elimination game. ... That's a pretty big sample size."
As it goes, social media took DeBoer's comments and ran with them. It was an interesting look into the mindset of the Montreal Canadiens' fanbase, as there were plenty of comments about the team possibly adding Oettinger in the offseason.
The thinking for the fanbase is that Oettinger won't want to stick around after getting thrown under the bus by DeBoer. It's true that it wouldn't be ideal to continue with that environment, but it's difficult to find a starting goaltender that is the caliber of Oettinger.
It's much easier to find a coach who can get your team to the cusp of a championship and fail to deliver year after year. If the relationship is irrepairable, it'd make much more sense to fire DeBoer than trade Oettinger. It might already be in the minds of the Stars' front office to head in a new direction, and a poor relationship with Oettinger might be the thing to set the plan in motion.
Canadiens perspective
Do the Canadiens need to waste assets on acquiring Oettinger? They have a goaltender on a similar path to Oettinger in Jacob Fowler, who could eventually become the younger version. It isn't like Oettinger has led the Stars to a ton of success, as some of his playoff performances left some to be desired.
Fans aren't overly happy with the play of Sam Montembeault, but he will do enough to kep the Canadiens in contention until Fowler is ready. Montreal could acquire Oettinger if they want to accelerate their competitive window, but there's a chance it'd cost them Fowler to do it.
The argument would be that trading an unknown in Fowler for someone who is proven in Oettinger could be the move. However, the worry for Kent Hughes would be Fowler becoming an even better goaltender and being stuck with $8 million annually for someone who can't get the Canadiens over the hump.
I know that Canadiens fans want Hughes to explore all possible avenues. Oettinger is one that you might want to steer clear of with so many unknowns.