The Edmonton Oilers may be getting linked to Jordan Binnington, but they don’t sound like a team in a hurry to chase another goaltender.
That was the message from Elliotte Friedman on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast, where he pushed back on the idea that Edmonton is ready to make a move. Friedman said Binnington can rise to the moment in big international settings, pointing to the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics, but he also made it clear the Oilers don’t have an urgent need in net right now.
The reason is simple: Edmonton likes where things stand. Tristan Jarry is playing well, Devon Levi has shown he can handle the job as an NHL starter, and Frederik Andersen is still working his way back from injury.
With that kind of setup, there’s no immediate pressure to go shopping for another goalie. Binnington could still come into play later in the season if the situation changes, but for now he’s not on the Oilers’ radar.
The same goes for Juusa Saros, another name Erik Johnson floated as a possible fit.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the Devils are catching heat for a very different decision.
The team chose to sit Connor Hellebuyck for Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, and that move has sparked plenty of debate. General manager Sunny Mehta said in a statement that he was leaning on the numbers and believed playing Hellebuyck would reduce the team’s chances of winning. That explanation hasn’t satisfied everyone, especially with Hellebuyck saying he wanted to play against his former team.
The optics have only gotten messier because some are questioning why Jake Allen would get the start, given his struggles against Winnipeg. Others think the Devils and Hellebuyck are trying to avoid a scene with Jets fans who would have plenty to say.
There’s also a growing belief that this may have been driven by Hellebuyck himself, even though he’s publicly said he wants to play and that the situation is “out of his hands.” It’s turned into a much bigger talking point than anyone probably expected, and Hellebuyck is still scheduled to speak to the media Tuesday and explain his decision to request a trade.
In Calgary, the Flames are dealing with a more straightforward problem: they’ve lost Kevin Bahl for the rest of the season.
Bahl will have surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon, a brutal blow for a defender who had been logging nearly 22 minutes a night. That leaves Craig Conroy with a real hole on the blue line, and TSN’s Darren Dreger said the Flames could look beyond the organization to patch it.
Dreger wrote: “Brutal injury that will hurt the Flames. If there’s a young Dman available, I expect Conroy might consider that, or a defenceman on a short-term contract, but they’re not interested in simply adding via trade to fill the void.”
That fits where Calgary is in its rebuild. A younger defenceman who could stick around would make more sense than bringing in a rental just to cover the gap. The Flames may have an internal answer, but if the depth chart starts to crack, Conroy could still be pushed into the trade market.
In Other News...
Jets Rookies Just Changed The Feel Of This Winning Streak
The Jets have spent the past few games getting an added lift from their rookies, and it has changed the tone around a team that badly needed a reset. Tyrel Bauer, Viggo Bjorck and Brayden Yager all hit NHL milestones in quick succession, with Bauer and Bjorck each making their first real mark on the scoresheet and Yager following with his own breakthrough moment. For a club that was trying to shake off a rough stretch, those developments mattered beyond the individual celebrations.
Bjorcks first NHL points came in a multi-point game, while Bauers first goal and assist arrived during a comeback that gave Winnipeg a jolt of energy when it needed it most. Yager then added another rookie highlight by scoring his first NHL goal, giving the streak a different feel than a typical run of wins. The larger question now is whether these young players can keep nudging the Jets forward as the games get bigger and the margin for error gets smaller. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Suddenly Have Real Momentum As Hellebuyck Drama Builds
A late power-play chance was enough to keep Winnipegs sudden turnaround rolling, as the Jets edged Tampa Bay 4-3 and stretched their winning streak to three after that ugly nine-game slide. Mark Scheifele was in the middle of it again, and the result gave the Jets a little more breathing room as they try to turn a rough stretch into something more stable.
The other wrinkle hanging over the week is the return of Connor Hellebuyck to Winnipeg, though the latest update from New Jersey took some of the heat out of that storyline. The Devils said their goaltender will not be in the lineup for Tuesdays game against the Jets, with general manager Sunny Mehta offering an explanation, while the Manitoba Moose head into a road trip still sorting through health and availability questions of their own. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Made A Connor Hellebuyck Call Fans Wont Love
Connor Hellebuycks first trip back to Winnipeg with the Devils had the makings of a meaningful night, the kind of game that tends to carry a little extra weight for both a player and the fan base that watched him grow into one of the NHLs elite goaltenders. Instead, the setup shifted before puck drop, with New Jersey choosing a different direction in net and leaving the return storyline hanging in the air.
For Jets fans, it was the sort of decision that naturally stirs debate because Hellebuycks connection to the city has always been part of the conversation around him. A return game in Winnipeg would have offered a full-circle moment, but the Devils opted not to give him that stage, and the reaction around it made clear the night lost some of its edge before it even began. [Read more 🡒]