After the recent acquisition of Tristan Jarry and the proven capability in Connor Ingram, the noise around the Edmonton Oilers goaltending quieted down for a while… that is, until rumours of the Minnesota Wild being willing to part with Jesper Wallstedt started being released. And now there are rumblings of the Oilers being interested in a possible trade to add him to the crease, as per Elliotte Friedman on the Michael Russo Report.
Back in 2021, the Oilers traded away the 20th overall pick to the Wild, who selected Jesper Wallstedt. In return, they received the pick that led to them drafting Xavier Bourgault. Bourgault has only played two games in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators earlier this season. They also received a third-round pick where they selected Luca Muenzenberger, who still hasn’t sniffed the NHL level. Now could be the the time for Stan Bowman to correct another one of the bad business moves of Ken Holland.
If they are considering making the trade for young Wallstedt, would they find a new home for Jarry or Ingram? Or should they run with their current goaltending and hope that it will be enough?
High risk, high reward
Jesper Wallstedt is a 23-year-old rookie, who came into the league at the start of the season, and started making waves with a 11–2–3 record, including four shutouts in his first 16 starts of the season. That proved that he was ready to play, and could be exactly what the Oilers need, in terms of finally finding their franchise goalie.
Wallstedt currently holds a contract of $2.2M AVV through the 2026–27 season, which means that they would have to find a bit of extra money in order to hold his contract, or make a trade where they move a key piece of their team to the Wild. If they were able to, it could be a big stepping stone in the right direction for the Oilers, possibly granting them even more stability in net, and with any luck, another chance at winning it all.
If it went well and Wallstedt continued playing the way that we have seen throughout the season, the Oilers could have finally got the goalie that they are looking for, long term. If it doesn’t and he isn’t able to handle the pressure of being on a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, it could be a huge bust, and they would have paid far too high of a price for him.
How the Oilers can make it happen
Based on reports from Elliotte Friedman, the Wild would be willing to give him up for a top-line forward, which would mean that the Oilers would have to give up a pretty large piece of their current success in order to aquire him from the Wild. The top two lines consist of Zach Hyman-McDavid-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Vasily Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kasperi Kapanen, so who could we give up without it affecting the recent scoring ability of our top lines?
If the Oilers were able to put together Jack Roslovic, and a future second-round pick, it might just make sense for both sides. Roslovic has played very well in Edmonton, and is able to be that middle-line centre, but also a winger. He isn’t a top-line forward in Edmonton as the line combos seem to be working just the way they are, but he has been recently found success playing centre on the Oilers second power play unit. With the current depth and ability of the Oilers, that is something that they would be able to work with, in order to get the stability in the crease. This might also intrigue Bill Guerin, the GM of the Wild, as that is the position that they are currently lacking in.
Should we have more faith in our current goaltending?
One thing that worries me about the Oilers working something out to claim him, would be that the Oilers may have to put him into a situation like they did with Stuart Skinner. While Skinner did great in his past few years with the Oilers, the young goalie was thrown into a situation where the team required elite goaltending at a very early stage in his career, to help them achieve the ultimate goal: winning the Stanley Cup. Now with the experience of Connor Ingram and Tristan Jarry, they would have a much easier time protecting Wallstedt in order to allow him to develop himself further while chasing the Stanley Cup.
While Wallstedt has shown that he is able to manage the net against some of the most elite teams in the league, helping the Wild tie for second-place in the league, is he going to be able to play the same way, if not better in the playoffs? Or will he crumble under the pressure of having to play such a large part in the teams success?
Between Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram, they have been playing quite well as of recent, including back-to-back shutouts just a short time ago. Which is part of the reason that Oilers fans had finally started to believe that the goaltending issue has been fixed, and we the rumblings of finding a goalie were finally over.
Should the Oilers take a serious run at Wallstedt, or should they leave the current lineup in place, and see if they are able to maintain the current level of play?
It’s do-or-die for the Edmonton Oilers
With losing in the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row to the Florida Panthers, the Edmonton Oilers are in do-or-die mode—they either need to find a way to make themselves more of a contender coming out of the West, or they are going to see themselves in a sticky situation in a few years when McDavid’s contract is back up for signing.
If the Oilers want to take a serious run at the Cup, I believe that adding Jesper Wallstedt could be exactly what they need in the picture to make that happen. Stan Bowman should be doing what he can to get the Swedish netminder into an Oilers uniform.
What are your thoughts? Should the Oilers chase one last goalie, or should we put trust in who we have?
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