As per the Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, who was recently a guest on The Jeff Marek Show, the Edmonton Oilers should be on the lookout for a long-term fix in goal and he believes the team should be inquiring about a player like goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers. Instead, it sounds like the team has looked into stopgap options like Martin Jones of the Philadelphia Flyers.
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The Flyers are inches away from major changes and among them, Jones is probably on the move as a 32-year-old pending UFA if the team finds a taker. He’s making $2 million this season as a backup to Carter Hart and he’s playing half-decent hockey for a team that has performed incredibly poorly. Carter Hart is clearly the guy in Philly and in 16 appearances, Jones has got a 3.52 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. When you consider the Flyers have let in the fifth-most goals this season, Jones’ numbers aren’t necessarily out of the ordinary.
The goals against are a concern, but the Oilers potentially see Jones as a short-term fix if Mikko Koskinen continues to struggle. Koskinen played exceptionally well on Saturday against the Calgary Flames, but those performances have been occurring far too infrequently for GM Ken Holland to feel comfortable with Koskinen going into the postseason, should the Oilers get there. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman noted that Jones is one of the options the Oilers have considered, even if he’s not their first choice.
One of the reasons the Oilers might make the move is because they could potentially swing Koskinen in the deal without much resistance from the Flyers. The downside is that Edmonton would have to retain salary and potentially offer a sweetener.
Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal writes:
No word on what the price tag might be, though the option of Mikko Koskinen at 50% retained would balance the contract/cap hit obligations while filling the backup goalie hole for the Flyers. The Oilers presumably would sweeten the pot with another asset, though one wouldn’t think it would be too dear.
Again, Not the Oilers First Choice
If Jones is part of the Oilers’ plans, this will be a back-pocket deal Holland pulls off after he’s exhausted all of his other options. First, there’s not a huge difference between the play of Jones and Koskinen this season, so giving up another asset to make the move seems unnecessary. Second, the Oilers will wait to see how his goaltenders do over the next couple of weeks. Should Koskinen pick up his game or Stuart Skinner come in and play well, the deal might not go down at all.
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