The Oilers have secured another goaltender with a cap-friendly deal

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Ryan Hall
July 5, 2023 (6:49)

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If there's been one sore spot for the Oilers this past year, it's been the roller coaster ride of their goaltending, leaving some fans scratching their heads and others seething at the results. As all fans know, one of the key ingredients to winning the Stanley Cup is stable and winning goaltending throughout both the playoffs and the regular season.

General manager Ken Holland believed he had acquired that goaltender when he signed former Toronto Maple Leafs starter Jack Campbell. For $5,000,000 per season, Holland expected nothing less than superb goaltending. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and Campbell had an up-and-down season.

Additionally, Stuart Skinner ended up becoming the starter until the end of the year, earning him a three-year contract extension with the team at a modest $1.6 million per year.

Fast forward to this summer, and the Oilers have decided to sign Olivier Rodrigue to a one-year extension. Rodrigue was given a two-way deal worth $775,000.

The 22-year-old goaltender was drafted in the second round, 62nd overall, in the 2018 NHL draft. Standing at 6 feet 1 inch and weighing 174 pounds, he hails from Chicoutimi, QC. Rodrigue has spent the last two seasons with the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL. In his last season, he played 29 games, maintaining a 2.77 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.

Rodrigue provides the Oilers with depth in the goaltending position. If an injury occurs to either Campbell or Skinner, Rodrigue seems fully capable of stepping in and filling the gap until one of them returns. Moreover, $775,000 is a minimal amount of cap space for such a crucial position.