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Winners of just four of their last 17 games since Dec. 3, the Edmonton Oilers sit four points out of the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference. Shaky goaltending continues to be a significant factor in their free-fall in the standings, raising concerns over whether GM Ken Holland can find a suitable trade to address this problem.
The best option would be the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marc-Andre Fleury, who’s been linked to the Washington Capitals in recent trade chatter. The 37-year-old overcame a poor start and has a 13-6-3 record with a .922 save percentage since Nov. 5. The defending Vezina Trophy winner would be a godsend for the Oilers.
Fleury, however, carries a $7-million cap hit for this season and a 10-team no-trade clause. The cap-strapped Oilers might not be on his list of preferred trade destinations even if they could find a way to make the dollars work.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Holland attempted to acquire Martin Jones from the Philadelphia Flyers but they wanted more than a late-round draft pick. He’s also looked at the Rangers’ Alexandar Georgiev, Dallas’ Braden Holtby and Anton Khudobin, St. Louis’ Ville Husso, Columbus‘s Joonas Korpisalo, Washington‘s Vitek Vanecek and the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov.
Georgiev and Husso aren’t going anywhere after filling in well for their respective clubs’ sidelined starters earlier this season. The Stars prefer moving Khudobin, who was sent to the minors after struggling earlier this season. Korpisalo’s stats are no better than the Oilers’ Mikko Koskinen. The Capitals won’t part with Vanecek unless they acquire Fleury. Varlamov’s 16-team no-trade list could prevent a trade to the Oilers.
Better options might become available leading up to the March 21 trade deadline. However, that could come too late to save the Oilers’ season.