Oilers Must Address Key Position After Hitting Rock Bottom

The Edmonton Oilers suffered their most embarrassing loss in recent memory, dropping a contest to the Colorado Avalanche by a final score of 9-1. It was the first time in three years since the team allowed so many goals in a game, and now the franchise is facing a major dilemma.

How much longer can the Oilers ignore their goaltending problems before it costs them a shot at the Stanley Cup?

Rock Bottom

The loss to the Avalanche has to be rock bottom for these Oilers. The group has hit low points before over the past few years in their quest to the Stanley Cup Finals, as head coach Kris Knoblauch stated postgame. He hopes that this is the wake-up call the team needs to get back on track after starting the season 6-6-4.

“This team’s been in trying times several times over the years, and they’ve always worked it out,” he said. “Just because they’ve found a way to play better, step up, and I think right now, the last couple weeks I’ve seen we’re just kind of waiting for that moment to happen. And I think tonight would be, I definitely hope this is, rock bottom for us. I hope this wakes up a lot of guys.”

What Do They Do Now?

It’s quite simple, really, what the Oilers have to do moving forward. The team has to exhaust every option possible to add another NHL-quality goaltender. They’ve done this dance twice before with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, believing in them despite the warning signs, only to have that duo let them down in the biggest moments two years in a row.

It’s not just goaltending, to be clear, but that is the only position they can feasibly address and improve before the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It also won’t be an easy task, but neither is winning the greatest prize in sports.

Hockey goalie makes sav — Devon Levi made several big saves, but Laval managed five goals against the previously red-hot Amerks goalie. | Jamie Germano / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Options, Options, Options

Don’t let the Oilers tell you that there weren’t options on the table to improve or players worth taking a risk on.

Let’s just start with the young goalies around the league stuck in a tough position. The Buffalo Sabres have young puck-stopper Devon Levi languishing in the AHL. While he's won six of his first seven starts, things haven't panned out in Buffalo, but that can be said of almost any player within the Sabres organization over the last 10 to 15 years. It's easy to envision how much better Levi might do in an organization like Edmonton.

There are also young goalies with organizations like the Minnesota Wild and the Pittsburgh Penguins that are stuck in deeper depth charts and looking for elevated roles. Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist is recovering from an injury suffered during training camp, but he will be competing with top prospect Sergei Murashov for starts in the AHL while 24-year-old Arturs Silovs keeps earning more NHL starts. Perhaps the Oilers could pluck the 23-year-old out of Pittsburgh.

There’s also Wild puck-stopper Jesper Wallstedt. The soon-to-be 23-year-old is a former first-round pick, but he's also entrenched as. the backup to starter Filip Gustavsson.

Veterans to Target

If it’s experience the Oilers value the most, there’s plenty of that around the league as well. The Sabres have older options in journeyman goalie Alex Lyon. The St. Louis Blues are struggling out of the gate and have 32-year-old Jordan Binnington being pushed for starts by Joel Hofer. With two years remaining on his deal, is that a more realistic target for the Oilers? Division rival, the San Jose Sharks, have Alex Nedeljkovic mentoring Yaroslav Askarov this season.

The Wild Pitch

If the Oilers want to try and do something absurd, I have a suggestion. The Nashville Predators are in a difficult spot. They aren’t good enough to compete in the Western Conference, but they have huge contracts devoted to multiple veterans aged 30 or older. That includes star goalie Juuse Saros, who is now in the first year of an eight-year, $61.92 million extension.

The Predators need to tear it down and fully rebuild, and the Oilers could take advantage. It would be a blockbuster of a trade and a headache to figure out the long-term financials, but if Edmonton wants to truly go all-in, it’s possible.

The one thing that’s for sure is that the Oilers have hit rock bottom and have to find a solution. It will take a creative approach, and it might take a big swing to do so, but the team’s latest loss was a painful reminder that they need to address their goaltending position in order to make another Stanley Cup run.

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