Right before the puck dropped on Thanksgiving Eve, a tweet sent shockwaves through every fan in Pittsburgh that remembers when Tristan Jarry passed the puck to the opposing team in a double overtime playoff game.
This is a logical choice for Edmonton, mainly because the GM for the Oil is very dumb. Goaltending in the NHL is very sporadic, all-stars can easily turn into fridge NHL players as Jarry did last year. Goaltenders can continue on that rollercoaster for the rest of their career, and given Jarry’s play so far this year he looks poised to do so. The Oilers goaltending situation is bad and has been for a number of years, McDavid resigning for only two seasons will force them into attempting to fix their tandem by any means necessary. However, Stuart Skinner really hasn’t been as bad as some would have you believe. Skinner actually has a positive goals saved above expected, essentially the Oilers are just a dogshit defensive team.
On the Penguins side of things, trading Jarry makes sense. Elliotte Friedman opined yesterday that Jarry actually has positive trade value which coming into the season seemed like something that was impossible. Getting out from Jarry’s contract and receiving plus assets would be a huge win for Dubas. Oilerlive said they heard a package of Jarry and Wotherspoon for Janmark, Skinner, and picks which I cannot imagine is something the Penguins would be interested in doing. Wotherspoon has been too good of a partner for Karlsson and the left side of the D is too thin to remove Wotherspoon. The only situation where something like a Wotherspoon trade is palatable is if you are getting Nurse in return but I would assume the Penguins would require significant assets to take on Nurse’s contract. The Penguins would likely need to take Skinner or Pickard in return regardless of what the rest of the package looks like and they’d be wise to do so because Jarry is the only non-rookie goaltender in the entire organization. While the goaltending depth is great; Silovs has proven to be a 1B so far, Murashov looks like the future, and Blomqvist tracks to be a high tier backup or 1B option but if the Pens make the playoffs it wouldn’t hurt to have another option that is playoff tested. This is a potential trade opportunity for the Penguins to continue stacking pieces for the future, ridding themselves of a bad contract, and not necessarily making themselves way worse. For Edmonton, they can at least try a change that they desperately need and hope it also wakes up the locker-room to begin playing better defense.
The Oilers have also been connected to Jordan Binnington, the starter for Team Canada in last year’s Four Nations Tournament. On the surface, with his name recognition, you would assume that to be the better route. However; Binnington, much like his team, has been dreadful this year. He is 72nd ranked goaltender in goals saved above expected and outside of his 2019 playoff run has largely been an average netminder. Binnington makes more money than Jarry but is signed only for one more season beyond this year which could play a factor in what Edmonton wants to do.
To be honest, if I were the general manager of Edmonton I wouldn’t be going after a hot hand (Jarry) or just because a guy has won before (Binnington), I would be going after a big fish. Trade out whatever contracts you need and find a way to bring in a Saros, Sorokin (if the Islanders fall out of it), or Joey Daccord. The timeline for a cup has an expiration mark on it with the McDavid 2 year extension, I wouldn’t put push all my chips in for a guy who could end being exactly the same as what you currently have in net. Merzlikins or either goalie in Detroit would be the tier below the three guys that I named above that could be worth a look but those guys feel similar to a Jarry or a Binnington. At the end of the day, Edmonton does need to shake up their net (and maybe the team as a whole) but it will matter very little since the guy wearing the C is a generational loser.
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