Could Star Goalie Be Oilers’ Next Big Trade Target Amid Predators’ Struggles?

As the Nashville Predators continue to struggle, trade talk will surround that roster. As leaders like Ryan O’Reilly talk in post-game media scrums about how bad they are, or trade chatter surrounds Steven Stamkos, that same trade talk will filter over to other players.

Among them might be goaltender Juuse Saros.

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Tyler Yamermchuk of Oilers Nation and Jeff Marek of The Sheet discussed Nashville and how the Edmonton Oilers should be watching that team, hoping it continues to struggle. Yaremchuk noted that a bad Nashville team could be good for the Oilers.

Jeff Marek responded:

“I agree, and I know the contract is lengthy and it’s not small, but if you’re not talking about looking at Juuse Saros, then what are we doing here? You can expect players to go along with one rebuild, I think that’s fair. But considering how short careers are, you can’t ask a player to go through two rebuilds, and if this is where Nashville is going to go, I would expect that Barry Trotz would have that conversation with Saros. ‘It’s like look, this is the direction we’re going to go, we tried, we loaded up with Stamkos, Marchessault, Brady Skjei… and it didn’t work, we need to go a different direction here. We love you, but we can’t ask you to do this again.'”

Marek added, “If I’m the Edmonton Oilers, the place that I’m looking at here, whether it’s this year or, Tyler, to your point, next year with all the cap savings and the cap space, that’s where I’d be looking. If I’m the Edmonton, and don’t even worry about the contract, like you’re not in a place right now we got to worry about like oh what’s that going to look like no don’t even consider that whatsoever you just need to think about game and the next you know and then the next round of playoffs if you’re the Edmonton.”

Does Saros Make Sense for the Oilers?

Saros is under contract for $7.74 million through 2023. That’s a big contract to take on for the Oilers, but it answers any questions they might have in goal. Saros, 30, has had a strong career with 421 games played, a 2.68 goals against average, and a .914 save percentage.

He does have a full no-move clause in his contract and would have to agree to a trade that sends him to Edmonton. As for what the Oilers would send back in return, it would be a younger roster player, a top pick, and other assets. Moving Saros would signal that the Predators are rebuilding again. Active and older roster players don’t make sense for them.

Next: Ryan O’Reilly Gets Real About His Struggles—And Contenders Will Notice