The Search For a Goaltender

[PKSpecialist]

As a small debate began in the draft thread, I pondered our goaltending situation and how we got to where we are today.

When the calendar turned to 2014, Devan Dubnyk and Jason Labarbera were our goalies as I recall. Dubnyk was playing very poor, and it was evident that his days were numbered. This is our goaltending transaction history since then(I hope I’m not missing anything)

Traded Devan Dubnyk for Matt Hendricks
Traded a 2014 3rd for Ben Scrivens
Traded a 2015 3rd and 2014 5th for Victor Fasth
Traded a 2015 2nd and 3rd for Cam Talbot and a 2015 7th(Ziyat Paigin)
Traded 2017 3rd and 5th for Stuart Skinner
Traded Ben Scrivens for Zack Kassian
Traded 2018 4th for Al Montoya
Traded 2018 3rd and 5th for Olivier Rodrigue
Traded 2019 5th for Hayden Hawkey

We also signed Mikko Koskinen and Shane Starrett as Free Agents.

Draft
2014 4th - Zach Nagelvoort
2014 7th - Keven Bouchard
2015 7th - Miroslav Svoboda
2016 5th - Dylan Wells
2017 3rd - Stuart Skinner
2018 2nd - Olivier Rodrigue

What do we have to show for it going into next year?

Mikko Koskinen on a 3 year $4.6 million per contract who hasn’t shown he is a starting goalie in the league yet.
Shane Starrett is having a solid season in the AHL, but has never played a game in the NHL. Wells and Skinner have been ok in their pro debuts, but have a long ways to go before being NHL ready.
Hawkey is solid in college, but who knows if he will sign. Rodrigue I believe has one more year in junior.

In a nutshell, we traded Devan Dubnyk(NHL caliber starting goalie), a 2nd round pick, 5 3rd round picks, two 4th round pick, and 4 5th round picks, and a 7th round pick for one solid,but unsigned college goalie, three solid prospects, but far from assured of anything yet and Zack Kassian. The two most promising goalies we have were signed as FA’s, and one is way overpaid and pretty much guaranteed the starting gig next year with under 40 games NHL experience....

I sure hope the return for Cam Talbot makes up for this. Lol

I’m going to go throw up now.

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[Connorrhea]

As a small debate began in the draft thread, I pondered our goaltending situation and how we got to where we are today.

When the calendar turned to 2014, Devan Dubnyk and Jason Labarbera were our goalies as I recall. Dubnyk was playing very poor, and it was evident that his days were numbered. This is our goaltending transaction history since then(I hope I’m not missing anything)

Traded Devan Dubnyk for Matt Hendricks
Traded a 2014 3rd for Ben Scrivens
Traded a 2015 3rd and 2014 5th for Victor Fasth
Traded a 2015 2nd and 3rd for Cam Talbot and a 2015 7th(Ziyat Paigin)
Traded 2017 3rd and 5th for Stuart Skinner
Traded 2018 4th for Al Montoya
Traded 2018 3rd and 5th for Olivier Rodrigue
Traded 2019 5th for Hayden Hawkey

We also signed Mikko Koskinen and Shane Starrett as Free Agents.

Draft
2014 4th - Zach Nagelvoort
2014 7th - Keven Bouchard
2015 7th - Miroslav Svoboda
2016 5th - Dylan Wells
2017 3rd - Stuart Skinner
2018 2nd - Olivier Rodrigue

What do we have to show for it going into next year?

Mikko Koskinen on a 3 year $4.6 million per contract who hasn’t shown he is a starting goalie in the league yet.
Shane Starrett is having a solid season in the AHL, but has never played a game in the NHL. Wells and Skinner have been ok in their pro debuts, but have a long ways to go before being NHL ready.
Hawkey is solid in college, but who knows if he will sign. Rodrigue I believe has one more year in junior.

In a nutshell, we traded Devan Dubnyk(NHL caliber starting goalie), 5 3rd round picks, one 4th round pick, and 3 5th round picks for one solid,but unsigned college goalie, three solid prospects, but far from assured of anything yet. The two most promising goalies we have were signed as FA’s, and one is way overpaid and pretty much guaranteed the starting gig next year with under 40 games NHL experience....

I sure hope the return for Cam Talbot makes up for this. Lol

I’m going to go throw up now.

Did you forget that Dubynk was drafted in 2004 and developed for 10 years by this organization and couldn't stop a beach ball and went to Nashville and Arizona before finding his way with Minnesota? He was warranted an exit, he had a decade to prove himself with this team and failed.

 

[GMofOilers]

Did you forget that Dubynk was drafted in 2004 and developed for 10 years by this organization and couldn't stop a beach ball and went to Nashville and Arizona before finding his way with Minnesota? He was warranted an exit, he had a decade to prove himself with this team and failed.

And he still hasn’t done nothing.

Minny had a cup contending team for years, he got to second round once and loses out in first round every year.

 

[MessierII]

You forgot we traded Ben Scrivens for Zack Kassian

 

[PKSpecialist]

Did you forget that Dubynk was drafted in 2004 and developed for 10 years by this organization and couldn't stop a beach ball and went to Nashville and Arizona before finding his way with Minnesota? He was warranted an exit, he had a decade to prove himself with this team and failed.

Nope, I actually posted that he was playing poorly and it was evident that his days were numbered. We also received a year of fantastic goaltending from Talbot, but in the end, my post was about what we have for next year, and all of the assets we squandered to get to that point.

Did you forget he was coming off three consecutive average to above average seasons in terms of save % before really tanking behind this **** team?

Dubnyk’s confidence was shook, and it’s obvious he had to go, and it took him a year after to get it back, but he’s back...he carried that Minni team in his first year there. He hasn’t been as good since, but he’s still a starter. We could only hope for Koskinen to be as good.

 

[Little Fury]

And he still hasn’t done nothing.

Minny had a cup contending team for years, he got to second round once and loses out in first round every year.

 

[Little Fury]

Did you forget that Dubynk was drafted in 2004 and developed for 10 years by this organization and couldn't stop a beach ball and went to Nashville and Arizona before finding his way with Minnesota? He was warranted an exit, he had a decade to prove himself with this team and failed.

Dubnyk was trending up as an Oiler until the genius Mac T threw him under the bus and trashed his confidence. And, in true Oiler fashion, rather than work with the player, they just dumped him off and watched him succeed elsewhere.

 

[Connorrhea]

Nope, I actually posted that he was playing poorly and it was evident that his days were numbered. We also received a year of fantastic goaltending from Talbot, but in the end, my post was about what we have for next year, and all of the assets we squandered to get to that point.

Sorry I mis-read your first line.....its actually pretty scary to think about this but since the Oilers drafted and developed Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr, they haven't drafted and developed a single goalie that turned out to be a true #1 for them since 1981!!!! I mean Dubynk was probably given the longest leash to develop and he needed a new team to show him the way.

 

[PKSpecialist]

Sorry I mis-read your first line.....its actually pretty scary to think about this but since the Oilers drafted and developed Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr, they haven't drafted and developed a single goalie that turned out to be a true #1 for them since 1981!!!! I mean Dubynk was probably given the longest leash to develop and he needed a new team to show him the way.

Agreed, very sad. Maybe it’s time we take a Spencer Knight in the first round...of course we need to draft a high-end d and two high end wingers....smh

 

[PKSpecialist]

Dubnyk was trending up as an Oiler until the genius Mac T threw him under the bus and trashed his confidence. And, in true Oiler fashion, rather than work with the player, they just dumped him off and watched him succeed elsewhere.

I actually forgot about the Cory Schneider debacle

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

And he still hasn’t done nothing.

Minny had a cup contending team for years, he got to second round once and loses out in first round every year.

What?

 

[backhandsauce]

I miss Roloson

 

[Connorrhea]

Agreed, very sad. Maybe it’s time we take a Spencer Knight in the first round...of course we need to draft a high-end d and two high end wingers....smh

You think that stat is bad....after Kassian's 8 goals, the next closest goal scorer among forwards this year is Lucic with 5....there are 65 Defensemen in the NHL who have 5 or more goals than the rest of our forward group after Kassian!

 

[TheNumber4]

The Oilers can rotate goalies in and out over and over and they’ll never find the one until they give them a good NHL quality defence. Which has only happened once in the last 15 years and that was the year Talbot was “Vezina-like”.

Management knows this, with them out right saying they need to upgrade the defence. Chia tried and failed miserably. Previous GMs had the pieces to build something then couldn’t identify what they had (Schultz, Petry, Dubnyk) when they had them.

 

[Stoneman89]

We've had garbage lineups throughout the last 10 years, with crappy depth and management. Very difficult to tell if our goalies can handle this or our coaches can. We may have lost some fine ones, or not. Fact is, we've only had one goalie that's managed to rise about all the chaos in that time back in 2016, but even Talbot has been eventually broken by it, and now needs a change of scenery. Who knows if he will ever recover? Good luck to the next group.

 

[PKSpecialist]

We've had garbage lineups throughout the last 10 years, with crappy depth and management. Very difficult to tell if our goalies can handle this or our coaches can. We may have lost some fine ones, or not. Fact is, we've only had one goalie that's managed to rise about all the chaos in that time back in 2016, but even Talbot has been eventually broken by it, and now needs a change of scenery. Who knows if he will ever recover? Good luck to the next group.

I don’t disagree, but at the end of the day is our defensive core
Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Russell
Manning Benning
Gravel Petrovic
Sekera

That much worse than:

Hutton Tanev
Edler Stecher
Pouliot Gudbranson
Del Zotto Biega

???? Why can’t the Oilers ever have a goalie or anyone for that matter play above their ability to a) increase their value, or b) improve the team. The Canucks have given up less goals than the Oilers in more games.
I’m not sure what I’m more embarrassed about, missing the playoffs again, or being lower in the standings than a Canucks team who should be battling for 1st overall pick.(No offense meant by this post to any Canuck fan who may be trolling our boards)

 

[Canovin]

Two 2nd round picks will get you a good goalie these days. Fill out the roster first. I would worry about getting a goalie in 2 years when the Oilers are contending.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

I think you need to change the title to "The search for a Goaltender Coach"

There is only so many goaltenders you can rotate until you have to start wondering how they are being guided and coached. Why is it that our goaltenders are constantly get worse after they get here? Talbot didn't in let bad goals consistently for the first year and half he was here and now it is every single game. Koskinen didn't let in so many bad goals in the beginning either, and now it's showing up in his game. All due respect to the current Goalie Coach, but maybe it is time for another opinion.

 

[McFlash97]

Theres a guy in Bakersfield whos developing like a boss. Already head and shoulders better then Koskinen and Talbot at the same age. Wait until the Oilers goaltending coach gets a hold of him ......

 

[Messrules11]

I think you need to change to title "The search for a Goaltender Coach"

There is only so many goaltenders you can rotate until you have to start wondering how they are being guided and coached. Why is it that our goaltenders are constantly get worse after they get here? Talbot didn't in let bad goals consistently for the first year and half he was here and now it is every single game. Koskinen didn't let in so many bad goals in the beginning either, and now it's showing up in his game. All due respect to the current Goalie Coach, but maybe it is time for another opinion.

Agreed. As for these Philly rumours of Elliot and Stolarz, no thanks, there’s a reason they rushed Hart

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I think you need to change the title to "The search for a Goaltender Coach"

There is only so many goaltenders you can rotate until you have to start wondering how they are being guided and coached. Why is it that our goaltenders are constantly get worse after they get here? Talbot didn't in let bad goals consistently for the first year and half he was here and now it is every single game. Koskinen didn't let in so many bad goals in the beginning either, and now it's showing up in his game. All due respect to the current Goalie Coach, but maybe it is time for another opinion.

For the first 2-3 months here he was garbage.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

For the first 2-3 months here he was garbage.

Similar to the season he had last year and this season? Or has it gotten worse?

 

[Joey Moss]

If we could trade up in the draft and grab Spencer Knight that might be something to look at.

 

[Faelko]

Dubnyk was trending up as an Oiler until the genius Mac T threw him under the bus and trashed his confidence. And, in true Oiler fashion, rather than work with the player, they just dumped him off and watched him succeed elsewhere.

Dubnyk himself admitted he had to reinvent himself after some poor seasons. I give him credit for sticking with it, I think he was in Montreal’s farm system for a bit after Nashville as well. It wasn’t like the Oilers were the only team that gave up on him.

 

[PKSpecialist]

Dubnyk himself admitted he had to reinvent himself after some poor seasons. I give him credit for sticking with it, I think he was in Montreal’s farm system for a bit after Nashville as well. It wasn’t like the Oilers were the only team that gave up on him.

For sure a lot of credit goes to Dubnyk and learning to become a professional. He was rattled here. He had a penchant for letting in bad goals at awful times and our team's confidence couldn't withstand it. Then the Cory Schneider debacle happened where we offered more than the Devils did(alledgedly), but the Canucks wanted him out of the division. MacT all but said we needed a better goaltender, and it rattled Dubnyk even more(or so it seemed, because he was awful that last half season). Of course other teams gave up on him, he had no confidence. It took him a while, but he found it.

The point of this thread, however, isn't to debate the goalies we've had, but to understand how in the hell we got to this point to begin with, and how to fix it moving forward. Squandered assets is the flavor of the day in Edmonton. Trading players at all time low values...Yakupov, Gagner, Schultz, Dubnyk.....every team makes mistakes, and we aren't alone, but how can we have so many of these ****ups? This fan base doesn't deserve this. Brutal......Please, hire me as GM...I think I have a better idea than anyone in house of how to fix this mess.