Confirmed with Link: Oilers Sign Mike Smith to 1-Year Deal ($2M)

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

I thought they signed another goalie.

So, it's Smith and Koskinen again ?

Yes.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

LMAO

"the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

what a buzzkill

 

[Spawn]

Oof. Just when I was getting excited. Smith's been one of the worst goalies in the league in back to back seasons.

 

[Joey Moss]

How does he even get 2M? Should’ve been 1M.

 

[Giggleplex]

Sounds like Holland circled back to him after he exhausted his options. I wonder if it would've better (at least a bit cheaper) if he waited a bit longer though.

 

[canhi80]

Ideally, the plan would be to have him take a lesser role this season. At least he's not loaded up with bonuses this time around.

 

[sepHF]

What's the nepotism? He related to someone in management?

Smith was Tippetts go-to guy for a lot of years in the desert

 

[jukon]

Smith at two million with no performance bonuses would be a decent deal. Last year we were screwed with Tippet trying to get Smith to hit every performance milestone.

 

[DropTheGloves]

Yikes, to not upgrade and not even shave $500K off Smith's salary from last year when he was one of the worst in the league? Not great by Holland unless Koskinen is headed out shortly for an upgrade who can play 60+.

 

[Skolman]

Not much....Mrazek, Ranta, Dell, Bernier, Reimer + a bunch of old guys like Rinne, Halak, Lundqvist, etc.

Freddie Anderson & Rask as well.

 

[Arpeggio]

If it's a short season they may get lucky with Smith, but obviously would've been nice if they went in a different direction.

 

[Cam98]

Sounds like Holland circled back to him after he exhausted his options. I wonder if it would've better (at least a bit cheaper) if he waited a bit longer though.

That's a risk he could of taken, but then Smith might of signed elsewhere.

 

[Arpeggio]

Yikes, to not upgrade in goal and not even shave $500K off Smith's salary from last year when he was one of the worst in the league? Not great by Holland unless Koskinen is headed out shortly for an upgrade who can play 60+.

Wasn't Smith's cap hit higher than 2 with the bonuses?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

safe to say goaltending was not priority #1

 

[McXLNC97]

All his good moves undone with this

Not really....they are still better off having Barrie, Turris, Poolparty in the fold.

 

[Oilhawks]

Edit: I've cooled down on this. Best option available and could be his last hurrah, make it count.

Welcome back Smitty! Please don't wander out too much

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

First signing I have to give a thumbs down to. Don’t like it.

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

f*** sakes. I'm not even an Oilers fan and maybe even troll their fan base a bit, but I was hoping to see them do better.

Not this upcoming season.

 

[The Nuge]

Considering who was left, Smith was probably the best option out there.

I definitely would have preferred a guy like Greiss, but considering the Turris and Barrie signings I'm really happy with how FA has went.

I would have preferred Greiss as well, but he got as much as Barrie. I just don’t see how we could afford him

As you said though, we’re down to like Dell, Howard, and Smith. The grass definitely isn’t always greener, so this is probably the right call

 

[DropTheGloves]

That's a risk he could of taken, but then Smith might of signed elsewhere.

I would've preferred Howard at league minimum over Smith at $2 million.

 

[Da McBomb]

Not really much options left

 

[Digger12]

And we go from the high of the Barrie signing...to the low of this, lol.

Honestly, it doesn't bother me so much as long as we're not expecting Smith to play equal minutes w/ Koskinen. If they've decided to go with Koskinen as their #1 guy, then Smith as the #2 playing backup minutes isn't the worst thing in the world.

But heaven help us if Koskinen gets hurt for any length of time.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Ugh. Oh well. The rest of the roster is arguably improved.

Holland clearly did try to improve goaltending but wasn't willing to overpay

 

[oobga]

2M for 0.902 sav% and trashing our first game of the play-in. Wow, guy must have compromising pictures of Holland.

 

[FanOfSadTeam]

Honestly this was always a possibility. Holland said a while ago that he might bring him back.