In the wake of another loss at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers have made a significant roster transaction. Jack Campbell has been placed on waivers. Now, Campbell didn’t play in the latest game, but both Campbell and Stuart Skinner have had outright awful starts to the year.
Campbell placed on waivers
The 31-year-old is in the second year of a five-year contract with the Oilers where he’s earning $5M a year. Just hours ago, we posited what could be done with Campbell and it looks like the Oilers have made their decision.
Campbell currently sports a 1–4–0 record with 4.50 GAA and a .873 SV%. His counterpart Skinner is not faring much better with a 1–4–1 record himself with a 3.99 GAA and .856 SV%.
To say the Oilers’ goalie tandem has struggled out of the gates is an understatement, and it’s especially worrisome given Skinner was a Calder finalist just mere months ago for his 2022–23 performance. It looks like Edmonton may be giving Skinner the definitive starter role for the next stretch as they try to get themselves back on track. Maybe the hope is that Skinner can find some of that Calder-level performance while getting a clear schedule of his upcoming starts.
Edmonton’s next steps
We’ll see what happens to Campbell, but he’ll likely go unclaimed with the combination of one, his $5M cap hit; and two, his performance making him an unappealing option for even the teams that need some goaltending help.
With a goalie being sent down, once he clears, the Oilers turn to one of Calvin Pickard or Olivier Rodrigue from the Bakersfield Condors. Pickard has a 2–2–0 record with a 2.03 GAA and .939 SV% while Rodgrigue has a 2–0–0 record with a 1.00 GAA and 0.968 SV%. On paper, both look like options that can’t possibly be worse, but it’ll be up to the organisation on what direction they want to go, whether bringing up a veteran or a rookie.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
