Gibson not waiving for Edmonton, but why would they do this anyways? It's pretty typical for goalies to do terribly in their first year of a big contract on a new team, and they have Stuart Skinner that is promising. They should look to use those picks to get long-term improvements on the defense not Gibson, especially with the Western Conference needing a strong Forward and Dcore more than having a high-end goalie.

These would make a lot of sense and improves the team in the 2 areas that have killed their playoffs yearly.

No way in hell Oilers are giving up two 1sts to swap Campbell for a goalie that has been trying to stay above .900% save percentage the last 5 years.

I don't see the Ducks paying Campbell 6.5 AAV for the next 4 years, no matter the payment.

I have them adding Brodie here, they spent assets to acquire Ekholm last year and Bouchard + Broberg should take another step. I see that as an elite forward group and a solid D core.

Goaltending is literally the only thing that's held them back and I'm sorry but Campbell isn't it. That contract will only get worse and this is the ideal opportunity to swap out the same term and same AAV for a much more talented (and younger) goaltender who should improve behind a vastly better team.

They showed that gambling on Skinner was not a wise move but he will still be there as a fall back regardless.

Brodie is 33, sure he could be a nice add as a rental but they already have Ekholm who is 33M. So, I'm saying to keep those picks for future years, they won't be able to add someone of significance now on the back-end that would be a top 4 D for the next 4-5 years rather than trying to upgrade goaltending with Gibson.

Last year, Smith played out of his mind for most of the playoffs even if he was letting up soft goals from half. The reason they lost to Colorado didn't come down to goaltending.

You're saying Campbell isn't it but he's also not the one who held them back. He had a .961 in the playoffs in 4-games last year. They literally couldn't score 5v5 against Vegas, so it was the forward group that held them back. If they are going to make a goalie add/change, they should just rent Hellebuyck for the year and at least get a sure thing, to try to win the Cup this year.

Future years? They are in win now mode for obvious reasons. Brodie is a top 4 D right now and a 2nd rounder is a small price to pay.

And yes, Campbell's 5 mil cap hit held them back and their investment in him is the reason they didn't have competent goaltending. He played in 4 games and started 0, lol. He faced 51 shots total, almost the equivalent of a single game. The reason he even got into those games in the first place is because the Oilers had to rely on an underwhelming backup because their 5 mil starter was absolute dog**** all year.

You're literally going to claim a forward group that includes MCDAVID, DRAISATL, Nuge, Kane and Hyman is what held them back? They scored 19 goals in 6 games against the best D core and best goalie of these playoffs. For contrast, the Stars scored 12 in 6 games against VGK and the Panthers scored 12 in 5 games. They were 3rd in the playoffs in G/PG of all teams. They also had the worst GA/G of any team to make it past the first round and let in 22 goals against VGK in 6 games. Anyone who would claim their forwards were their weakness and not their goaltending is just out to lunch.

You talk about saving all these assets but please, explain how the Oilers go about acquiring Hellebuyck when they would clearly need to dump Campbell to do so. That cost would be astronomical and for what, a one year rental? So much for "future years"...

Check the edited version of what I said for the break down of those goals. My comments about the Colorado series was to say that even then it wasn't goaltending, it was defence that cost them. The Oilers added Ekholm, and you added Brodie here, so it's partially addressed.

Defence was a problem last year as well, but it's not just on the defenders. The Oilers relied on their top 6 and powerplay to get by LA. Against Vegas the Powerplay was still clicking but they couldn't score and they also couldn't prevent the other team from scoring, and you want to blame the goalie that was good even if he didn't start any of the games.

The forward group doesn't just consist of a top 6. They need better defensive forwards. Their powerplay should be what puts them over the top, not supplementing their 5v5 scoring.

There's no guarantee that Gibson does better with this group over Campbell even if he's the better goalie. I'm saying you either save your assets for the future (could be used on rentals as well) or get someone who's more of a sure thing in Hellebuyck vs Gibson if you are looking to make a change there. Otherwise, they are better off adding a defender that they can keep around longer than Brodie or a defensive 3C. The Oilers are in a win now mode, and next year will be the same. If Gibson isn't playing up to par are you going to ship him off with the 2027 1st? I would wait to see how Skinner and Campbell perform this season before saying they should spend their assets on a goalie who is in dire need of a change of scenery.

Stop going through the mental gymnastics to argue something that is so blatantly obvious. Adding Ekholm and Brodie means they're adding two top 4, arguably #2 defensive defensemen. Their 5v5 scoring was fine, their PP was just incredible on top of that.

Skinner posted a .883%, I think we can all agree that's not good goaltending. The only reason Campbell even played games is because Edmonton had to pull their goalie 4 times in 12 games, literally 1 in 3 games... start being honest with your take because I know you're not stupid enough to think goaltending was not an issue.

The Oilers can't afford the assets it would take to dump Campbell then trade for Hellebuyck. Gibson is a good goaltender who might be a reasonable option for them given their current structure. If you look at literally any of the goalies who have recently moved from a bad team to a good one you can see a clear improvement for obvious reasons; Gustafsson, Korpisalo, Samsonov, Vanecek, Georgiev, Hill, Ullmark.. there's almost no exception to that being the case.

Sometimes you need to evaluate a player based on their talent, something Gibson has. There's no guarantee for anything in sports, that's why you do your best to make educated decisions; assuming that Gibson will be a massive upgrade on Campbell is one of those educated decisions.

I'm not saying goaltending was not an issue, but you said it's the one that is holding them back (I'm assuming you meant from winning the Cup and not just making it to the Finals) which I don't agree with. Even with good goaltending, they would have probably not made it past the 3rd round unless they had great goaltending. I'm all for a team taking a chance on Gibson, especially those in the Eastern Conference since that's basically a requisite there. I wouldn't be surprised if he does well in front of a better defense, but my point is, Campbell (and Skinner) can also play better than he did last year in front of a better defense. Hill, Francouz (with Kuemper injured), and Khudobin were all able to get their team to the Conference Finals and while they had great/good performances up to that point, none of them are considered elite goalies. It's not uncommon for goalies to have a dip in performance or a terrible year in their first year or two on a new team (Grubauer, Kuemper, etc...), so first need to see if goaltending is going to be an issue.

For these reasons, I don't think it's worth it for the Oilers to take the risk on Gibson since if things do go south, they would be stuck with him. There's also the fact that you're running a 20-man roster with no cap, so pretty much this would be their group going into the playoffs with no depth. The Oilers had Ekholm last year, and you added Brodie which is great, but do you really think that dcore compares to Vegas and Colorado's? Do you think this dcore is much better than the one NSH put in front of Saros the previous year or the one that WPG put out in front of Hellebuyck last year?

Basically, you really are relying on McDavid and Draisaitl to find another level and/or the young guns like Bouchard (reasonable to do so), McLeod, Holloway, and Broberg and hoping that no one gets sidelined throughout the playoffs. All the Oilers can really do right now is get Bouchard signed, and depth signings or sign guys on discount deals to improve their depth.

Brodie is 33, sure he could be a nice add as a rental but they already have Ekholm who is 33M. So, I'm saying to keep those picks for future years, they won't be able to add someone of significance now on the back-end that would be a top 4 D for the next 4-5 years rather than trying to upgrade goaltending with Gibson.

Last year, Smith played out of his mind for most of the playoffs even if he was letting up soft goals from half. The reason they lost to Colorado didn't come down to goaltending.

You're saying Campbell isn't it but he's also not the one who held them back. He had a .961 in the playoffs in 4-games last year. They literally couldn't score 5v5 against Vegas (Vegas had 18 EV goals, the Oilers had 9EV+9PP). In the 1st round, the Oilers had 16 EV+9PP vs LA's 12EV+7PP. So, it was the forward group that held them back more than anything imo. If they are going to make a goalie add/change, they should just rent Hellebuyck for the year and at least get a sure thing, to try to win the Cup this year.

Of course it was the thing holding them back. They lost to Vegas in 6 and Skinner got yanked in 3 of those 4 losses... I'm not sure how it could be anymore obvious. Campbell and Skinner weren't just bad last year, they were atrocious. It's not taking the risk on Gibson you should be concerned about, it's taking the risk on them. They would be stuck with Gibson the same way they'd be stuck with Campbell, Gibson is a much safer bet.

When you consider that Anaheim would likely have a high second and Edmonton a low first, then you could argue that adding a 4th to that second would almost equal the value of Edmonton's first. So you're basically trading 4 years of Campbell at 5 mil with a late first for 4 years of Gibson retained at $4.9 mil. That should absolutely be worth the risk to any intelligent person.

Do I think their D core compares to two of the best D cores in the league? No. Do I think it's good enough to win with probably the best forward group in the league? Absolutely.

You're relying on McDavid and Draisatl to continue being two of the absolute best players in the game, a pretty reliable bet by any measure. You also skipped players like Nuge, Kane, Hyman, Ekholm, Nurse, Bouchard, etc.. to go along with a legit starter in Gibson.

If you can't see that goaltending was the issue when their starter posted a .883% and got yanked in 3 of their 4 losses to vegas, behind a team that was 3rd in GF/G these playoffs with two generational forwards, then you are hopelessly lost my friend.

Their goaltending is an issue, it is known.

Edit: No they don't need a 3rd team to retain on Brodie so they can sign Bailey, but sure - go ahead.

I'd just like to touch on this hilariously delusional point as well. Colorado swept Edmonton scoring 8, 4, 4 and 6 goals in each of those four games. TWENTY-TWO goals in FOUR games. Like, you can say the defense was largely to blame and you'd be right, but please don't pretend the goaltending was a strength and that Smith "Played out of his mind".

Time for this clown show to end. Your point is well taken and I appreciate your feedback. Kind regards!

Skinner had an atrocious playoffs (not much worse than Hellebuyck) but he was a rookie. Not everyone can be Binnington, Murray, or Cam Ward. He had a good regular season earning him a trip to the All-Star game, there's a lot of potential there. Campbell was atrocious in the regular season, but he looked good in the playoffs, even if it's a small sample size. You are completely ignoring his results in the previous 2-years in Toronto which were strong results except for last year in the playoffs (.897). So, you can bet on those two instead of on Gibson doing better than both of them in the same scenario. If Gibson is just posting a .915 in the regular season, and the playoffs it wouldn't be worth it since those are results that Campbell and Skinner could achieve. I didn't notice the Anaheim 2nd originally but without having any additional cap space or wiggle room, so it can easily just be a wasted season even if Gibson (or Skinner) shines. There is the bonus of having Brodie's 5M come off the books, the following year so that they aren't completely stuck if Gibson doesn't work out. I don't get why though, you think they don't need any cap room.


Oilers had the 6th worst GA/gp rate, WPG had the 3rd worst. Winnipeg has a legit starter in Hellebuyck. So, do you really think that enough has been done here to even give Gibson a good chance at a bounce back? Goaltending could easily still be an issue. Do you think this EDM's backend here is better or significantly better than WPGs? Hellebuyck had a .886 last playoffs, slightly better than Skinner.

Morissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Hellebuyck

I did not ignore any of those players, I'm trying to point out possible places where the Oilers would be better than they were in the previous two seasons. The only change to this roster that I missed from last year is Connor Brown up front (don't think Pederson is significant). So, really you are betting on the growth of players with the additions of Gibson, Brodie, and Brown to fix their GA problem which is a team defense issue, not just goaltending. Maybe the Oilers get lucky and don't have to play either team, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have to go through LA who is probably a legit goalie away from beating the Oilers. In 2021-22, LA was outscored 17 to 27 in 7-games, last year it was 20-25 in 6. I don't think they will light up Dallas either.




Okay, Smith played out of his mind in the 1st round, not good in the 2nd, and was atrocious in the 3rd.

To simplify, you wouldn't pay the equivalent of a late first to swap 4 years of Campbell for 4 years of Gibson at the same cap hit. Great take!

I would but not if I'm running a 20-man roster.

So you finally admit you're wrong because it's a swap of two roster players at the exact same salary. Thanks for coming to reason.

I already said I didn't see the Anaheim 2nd...

Fair enough but that shouldn't be enough to turn it down regardless.

The way I saw it was moving a 2 1sts+a 2nd + a 3rd to go from Campbell+Ceci to Gibson+Brodie, and you get no cap flexibility. So, really no room error. At that point, it's seems to be asking for trouble rather than a good bet.

Hawks decline. A 3rd isn't enough to take two years of Ceci. And the Hawks seem like their done adding cap dumps for this season anyway.