Quoting: ConnorMcHellebucyk
Jimmy howard won exactly 1 game this year
I'd honestly rather have Smith back than sign him
On arguably one of the worst teams iced in NHL history. I highly recommend the Willis article (May 20th) regarding what Holland is apt to do with the backup position. It boils down to essentially Howard and Smith, and I like the rational behind Howard enough to consider it:
Quoting: Jonathan Willis
Prior to this season, Howard had a .920-plus save percentage at 5-on-5 for eight consecutive seasons. As recently as 2018-19 he came in five goals better than Natural Stat Trick’s tough expected goals metric.
It's a stronger body of work than what Smith had prior to coming to Edmonton, and imo the biggest factor between gambling on either Howard or Smith is age. Smith hit his age curve really hard during his November skid and recovered enough to be respectable, but is it reasonable to expect him not to regress further due to age? On strictly a one-year deal (I strongly believe Edmonton needs to push hard for a genuine #1 next season and replace Koskinen when he expires with the winner of Konovalov vs Rodrigue) I think the bet is fine.
Other names mentioned that might be had for cheap were Anderson, Brossoit, Elliot, Miller, and Talbot. I don't think Brossoit and Talbot iare genuine options due to their histories in Edmonton: I don't think they want to come back and I don't think the management beyond Holland wants them back either. I think Anderson and Miller are done, and I'm extremely concerned about Elliot's injury history.