I’m going to skip past the Barrie thing too tired to get into that.
Leddy I was on board with but after seeing Niemelianen play a regular role over the last while I think pushing him out of the line up hurts the team more than leddy will help.
I think archie is worth a third but won’t get it for him since he hasn’t played and considering his status crossing the boarder is questionable threw the rest of the season and playoffs be lucky to get anything more than future consideration at this point.
Really don’t like the idea of varlamov just complicates this coming offseason when the answer in net could simply be sitting in Bakersfield.

I think picking up Varly would be ideal IF(i know thats a big if) they some how manage to get Smith off the books for next yr. Skinner as Varly's full time backup next yr would be ideal, gives him a season to adjust and move into the #1 role.

Would skinner and kosk be just as good of a tandem next year? We have seen kosk play very well in a tandem role just runs into issues when the weight of the team is put on him for an extended period of time. Splitting the job with skinner significantly lessens that concern because skinner isn’t likely to miss a month or two over every bump he takes. Could have both them for less than varlamov plus don’t need to spend assets doing so.

Nah, I think Koski is done in Edmonton. I agree that he is a perfectly adequate backup goalie who was just grossly overpaid(not his fault), but the jury is still out on Skinner being a steady #1. So i think instead of doing more experimenting with goal tenders in McDrai's prime yrs, they need to actually go out and get a #1 tender with only a few yrs left on their contract. Fleury(would he sign a 2 yr deal), Varly or Reimer would be my choices. Skinner would be full time back up at first and then maybe go into a 50/50 split scenerio before taking over the bonafide #1 gig when the other guys contract is up.

Minnesota Declines. We don't need wingers at all

I kinda see varlamov as an experiment and not sure he’s actually better than kosk. He comes from a team that has had much better defensive structure than Edmonton in recent years. He hasn’t had to handle unbelievable workloads like kosk playing nearly every game for a month straight on several occasions while having a significantly tougher travelling schedule. I’m really not sure if varlamov was put in the same situation he would look as attractive as people see him now.

Red Wings accept

No. Varlamov is better than Koskinen. That's not debatable. The issue here is moving Smith.

I agree with a lot if this, but "the answer" is almost never a 23-year-old rookie. The Oilers need a solid starter quality veteran on this team.

I think it would add another moving part or two to make it fully cap compliant, but I still say you could do the same Varlamov deal but sub in Mike Smith for Koskinen. Koskinen walks as a UFA whether he finishes the season as an Islander or an Oiler, then Edmonton rolls out Varly/Skinner next season and the Isles plug in Mike Smith as the backup for Sorokin - he's not my first choice for a backup, but Sorokin has shown he can carry a heavy workload this season, so if it helps get those futures in return for Varlamov, I think Lou would do it.

I just don’t see varlamov being any better than kosk. We both know kosk in a more limited role could stand tall against the tougher teams just stole a game from panthers. Give him the tough starts give skinner the lighter load be just as well off but less of a commitment and less costs to acquire. Skinner kosk is way way different than smith and kosk just because of durability. Get a lot more out of kosk when not playing him every night for a month with western travel.

4, 4, 7 (!), 4, 4 . . . save percentage, 0.824 . . . GAA too hard for me to compute because he was pulled in the first and second periods of two of the games . . .

I sure would hate to have to admit that you might be right . . . but he was held out of last night's game due to "non-Covid illness," so maybe that's the explanation for this stretch . . .

I have no idea what this post means. Totally confused.

Yeah, I've thought about that (sending Smith instead of Koskinen) and agree that it works better for both teams... the issue is fitting Varlamov's cap git in this year. Edmonton doesn't have any space right now so trading Smith ($2.2M) for Varlamov ($5M) means that something else has to give on the Oilers roster. It's not impossible, it just makes it more difficult.

No idea? Sad.

Apparently you don't understand it either!

If the Isles are willing to take Smith instead of Koski I'd say absolutely YES! With the Oilers injuries right now i think they could make Varly/Koski work cap wise for the rest of this season.

Varly has a .914 save percentage on a losing team this yr. He has a ton of playoff experience. Some ppl say he wont do as well on the Oilers because their D is terrible, but under Woodcroft the Oilers defence looks much more reliable and detailed. Varly is by far the better goalie here and far better suited to be the starter with Skinner as backup

I’d be careful when saying far better. Kosk numbers are heavily weighted to being overplayed by Tippett while dealing with significantly more travel just because of each teams location. Put the same workload on varlamov going to burn him out too numbers would come down. Lighten the travel for kosk and not play him for nearly a month straight on a couple occasions his numbers would improve. I’m suggesting the difference in situations would narrow that gap more than I personally believe people consider. Islanders can’t score but have had a more consistent defensive structure than Edmonton has had in recent years. Under woodcroft that certainly has improved and a well rested kosk just stole a game from one of the best teams in the league. Do think would end up with similar results with a skinner kosk tandem as would with a skinner varlamov tandem. On paper I see why many consider varlamov a clear cut upgrade but looking at very different situations that played a big part in those numbers I have my doubts. The one aspect I do completely agree with is playoff experience that’s not even close and do value that just not enough to personally risk going from an expiring 4.5 deal that should get cheaper to having a 5 million dollar guy that is locked in at that threw an already very tight offseason.

Aha! John Gibson. He has nothing to do with the prior conversation, we were talking about Stuart Skinner and the future of Edmonton's goaltending. That's what confused me... yes, Gibson hasn't been good recently, not that I've been watching the Ducks much. I hardly get time to watch the Oilers games these days.

He started hot, as he always does, with a 9-3-2 record and a .926 sv% in his first 14 games. In 24 games since, he's gone 7-11-6 with a .903 sv%. Lots of people will blame the team, but somehow Stolarz managed 7-4-0 / .919 and Doskal 1-1-0 / .929 over the same span.

Since virtually the entire thread consisted of a discussion of Varlamov vis-a-vis Skinner, I thought the references to save percentage, GAA and "pulled" would be sufficient references for you to make the connection, given our prior history.

Yeah, but I haven't been following the Ducks at all so I didn't know he'd been pulled twice on the last 5 starts. That's got to be tough.

Once in the first, once in the second, and both after only 20 shots. The 23 goals in 25 games is shocking, too.

23 GA in 5 games is shocking. Oilers fans are fed up with Mike Smith but he "only" has allowed 15 goals in his past 5 and was pulled once.

I wouldn't read too much into a 5 game sample, but still... that kind of tending is enough to put any teams playoff hopes to bed early. Worse, all 5 of Gibson's opponents were division teams!

Honestly who cares which team it is.