Oilers Escaped a Risky Goalie Trade — and Should Be Thankful

Before they acquired Tristan Jarry, the Edmonton Oilers were rumored to be in trade conversations with the St. Louis Blues regarding Jordan Binnington. It’s unclear how far discussions went and if there was ever a legitimate shot that the Oilers and Blues could make the logistics of a trade work, but a good portion of the Oilers fan base was pulling for the deal.

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Nick Kypreos was one analyst who was also big on the Binnington-to-Edmonton bandwagon, citing his past playoff success and a Stanley Cup on his resume as a reason it was the Oilers’ best bet.

How different that trade feels today.

While Binnington is still heading to the Olympics for Team Canada, his numbers are abysmal. He’s currently sitting at an 8-13-6 record with a 3.59 goals against average and a .869 save percentage. And, when he’s bad, he’s beyond bad, allowing multiple goals on few shots. In four of his last five games, he’s posted a below .875 save percentage and he’s allowed 15 goals in his last three starts.

Any chance of him being the starter for Team Canada has gone right out the window.

Meanwhile, Tristan Jarry has come in and been excellent for the Oilers. Posting a 4-0-1 record, he’s got a 2.58 goals against and a .907 save percentage. He recently posted a shutout, the second in a row, following Connor Ingram‘s shutout the night before. Speaking of Ingram, he too has been fantastic since his callup from the AHL. Ingram has a .947 SV percentage in January, and both goalies have posted a goals-against average of just 2.11 across nine games.

Head coach Knoblauch said on Tuesday, ahead of Jarry getting the start versus the New Jersey Devils, “They’re both playing really well, and we feel confident putting either one of those guys in…” As for who starts and when, “We kind of have it mapped out since Jarry came back, what it was going to look like for the next seven to ten days. But after that, time’s up.”

The point here is that the Oilers seemed to have dodged a major bullet by not adding Binnington, who has not played well this season. The Blues are having issues, and Binnington, who is known to have a polarizing personality, likely wouldn’t have handled the spotlight in Edmonton well.

Next: Latest NHL Trade Buzz: Canucks, Rangers, Flames