Goaltending and the Oilers

After much thought and consideration over what an appropriate title might be for this post segment, like Fantasy GMing, or Armchair GM (unfortunately these have been taken by others such as the immortal Robin Brownlee) I have decided to title this post "Goal tending and the Oilers".

Now that I have explained my lack of creativity, I would like to discuss one of Edmonton's big question marks for the upcoming campaign: Goal tending. I guess an appropriate place to start would be why I don't like the options that seem to be the most easily accessible to the Oilers.

Dwayne Roloson (Or Rolofson if you're Marc Crawford):

Before we go anywhere with this discussion I should reveal a secret: I am not a fan of Roli. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the stuff he has done here, but we should all be honest with ourselves here, Roli is a rapidly aging, average-at-best goaltender in the NHL. I could go into a statistical breakdown of Roli's career, or I could sum it up in one word: INCONSISTENCY. I am sure all you Oiler fans remember the Roli of 07-08.

Roli does have some upsides though, he's a "battler" and a "warrior", which is the right kind of attitude for a leader to demonstrate to his team (assuming Roli is a leader in the Oilers dressing room). However, there are also reports that while he's playing Roli's a great teammate, but when he's not playing he can be little bit of a distraction. This is a big reason I don't want to see Roli back here, because next season JDD has got to get substantial action in net.

Another big reason I don't want Roli back is because, reportedly, he is looking for a 2 year contract; and for a 40 year old, inconsistent, journeyman goalie, I am very doubtful that there is any way that deal could work out for the Oilers (unless of course, Roli some how maintains this seasons form).

Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (JDD):

I don't know where to start with JDD. I guess you could say I am also not a fan of JDD's, however, I think he has some potential as a capable NHL goalie. For next year I don't see how you can have JDD as any more than a 15-20 game back-up, he was totally unimpressive this year (minus his game against NJD). JDD also has had lack luster career numbers, here's his best season as a pro (excluding the ECHL):

07-08 Springfield Flacons GP GAA Sv% W L OTL

57 2.90 .912 23 26 5

Now to be perfectly honest, these numbers are a little deflated because the Falcons are a mess. But this was also JDD's 4th year as a pro (JDD's best junior year was by far his 3rd year by the way). Just looking at the available trends in JDD's numbers and you get the vibe that he is a late bloomer, and that's fine, but this team should be in a more "win-now-mode".

So what other options lay out there? Well there is a myriad of choices, it would seem like guys such as J.S. Guigere can be snatched from Anaheim, or Martin Biron via UFA, however, I want to cover only one option in this blog (I might discuss guys like Biron or Giggy at a different time): Josh Harding.

Harding is the RFA backup in Minny, and consensus around the league is that he is ready to be an NHL starter. Harding has lots of things going for him: his numbers are spectacular (he did play in Minny... but WOW), he's young (one year younger than JDD, one older than DD), and he has decent experience at the NHL level.

I see Harding as a risk/MASSIVE REWARD situation. Give him a 1-2 year deal. If it doesn't work out then there's little harm done, if it does Harding will be the first bonafide number 1 the Oilers have had since Tommy Salo.