Free Agency: Oilers Get Their Goalie In Jack Campbell

The Edmonton Oilers knew all season that their goaltending wasn’t their strong suit, but as free agency opens up, that is all changing.

When free agency began today, the Oilers announced that they have signed goaltender Jack Campbell to a 5 year, $25 million deal with an AAV of $5 million per season.

This is a solid signing for the Oilers. As mentioned above, they struggled with goaltending this past season with Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen in the net, and with Koskinen leaving to go overseas and Mike Smith going to LTIR, Jack Campbell signing with the team made a whole lot of sense.

How does the Campbell signing impact the Oilers?

This is a very good move for Edmonton. They lock down a goaltender in Campbell, who has emerged as a solid starter for any team he has been on in the past.

In a way, it completes the Oilers to get a goalie of this caliber and will overall help the team succeed in the post-season after a disappointing loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Oilers, overall, are a very good team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl being an offensive duo that causes nightmares for opponents, Darnell Nurse and Tyson Barrie leading the way defensively, and now adding Campbell in net solves the Oilers’ worst problems.

The question now is who will play behind Campbell. Rebuilding a goalie tandem is never ever easy, but with Jack Campbell as the new No. 1, it’s easy to think that the Oilers give one of their young goalies in the system a chance at being No. 2, and that could easily be Stuart Skinner.

Having Stuart Skinner see more time on the NHL roster behind a guy like Campbell will help Skinner develop into a solid goaltender in the league and in a few years after Campbell is gone could become a solid No.1 for Edmonton.

Time will only tell if this was the right move for Ken Holland and the Oilers but one thing is for sure, Edmonton is heading in a new direction and one could hope it’s for the better.