The Edmonton Oilers have seemingly admitted to the fact they’ve had bad goaltending by assigning Jack Campbell to the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL) after a tough start to his 2023-24 campaign. The team knows they need to fix their game fast before it gets way out of hand, and it seems they have been gauging the market on potential fits for their team.
One name that has now been connected to the Oilers is St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. According to Reid Wilkins with 630 Ched and Inside Sports, Binnington is someone the Oilers are interested in and have checked in on. With a tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard likely leading the Oilers for the foreseeable future, it’s not hard to understand why they’ve decided to check around and see who’s available in net.
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Wilkins isn’t the only insider who’s connected Binnington to the Oilers, as Mark Spector has doubled down on the Oilers’ interest in the Blues goaltender while on the Kevin Karius podcast. While Binnington’s attitude issues may be something that turns fans away from being just as interested in him as the team is, he is an extremely skilled goaltender who has the resume to be able to help lead the Oilers to the playoffs. Binnington’s cap hit may cause issues as far as a trade goes, but the Oilers have the contracts to even out the money.
Who Is Jordan Binnington & Is He Someone The Oilers Should Target?
Binnington is a 30-year-old goaltender from Richmond Hill, Ontario. He was drafted in the third round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft at 88th overall after a strong showing in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Owen Sound Attack where he posted a 2.17 goals-against average (GAA) and a .932 save percentage (SV%) through 50 games. Throughout his entire OHL career, he played in 157 games and posted a 2.90 GAA and a .910 SV% over a total of four seasons.
Binnington was an emergency call-up in the 2015-16 season, where he appeared in one game, but he never made the real jump to the NHL level until the 2018-19 season after grinding his way through the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Chicago Wolves, who also became known as the San Antonio Rampage. In 164 games played in the AHL, Binnington posted a 2.48 GAA with a .915 SV% and added ten shutouts on top of winning 87 games.
Throughout his NHL career, Binnington has posted a 2.77 GAA and a .907 SV% through 231 games played, where he has won 120 of those games. To start the 2023-24 campaign, he has posted a 2.58 GAA with a .919 SV% through eight games and has been one of the only bright spots for the Blues this season as they have come out of the gates rather flat with a 5-5-1 record.
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Many fans were quick to point out Binnington’s on-ice antics and concluded that acquiring him immediately brings over someone with a bad attitude. Well, the Oilers really need a new starting goalie that they can trust to pull them out of a slump, and there isn’t going to be a much better one on the market than Binnington, so I really don’t hate the idea of bringing him in.
While he does have a $6 million cap hit, and acquiring him would be pretty tough to make work, this move would prove the Oilers still have a goal to make a run this season and haven’t given up just yet. I also trust a tandem of Binnington and Skinner much more compared to Skinner and Pickard.
What Would It Cost To Bring Binnington In?
In any realistic trade for Binnington, the Blues will be looking for a replacement in goal. Jack Campbell could be of interest to them as he is likely headed for a fresh start somewhere else in the league, but if they think they can take him on and be the team that helps revive his career, they’ll be asking for a lot of assets in order to take on his contract. If the Blues decide they can find a starter elsewhere, maybe with a third team involved, they may accept an offer of Cody Ceci and Warren Foegele with a mid-round draft pick. Those two players have a combined $6 million cap hit, making the money work.
For the Oilers to have any shot at landing Binnington, it will require a lot of moving parts. At the end of the day, though, the team needs an upgrade in goal. While I’m dead set against trading a bunch of prospects and first-round picks for a goaltender, I would overpay a little bit for a starting goaltender who will be able to salvage the season and hopefully can spark Skinner, who would become the backup for the rest of the season.
Either way, the Oilers need to find a solution in goal, fast. They are 2-8-1 to start the season up until this point, and for a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations, that simply isn’t good enough.