For Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli, there's a lot of work to be done.
His new franchise finished this season with a 24-44-14 record, the third-worst mark in the NHL. Despite a bevy of young talent thanks to a seemingly endless stream of high first-round draft picks, something is fundamentally wrong with the Edmonton roster that keeps them from ever turning the page on their recent run of frustration and returning themselves to the conversation for the league's elite.
While Chiarelli is likely eyeing numerous avenues for upgrade, there's no denying that the biggest impediment to a winning Oilers season likely sits squarely between the pipes, where last season's duo of Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth provided what was arguably the worst goalie play in the entire NHL.
Luckily for Oilers fans, there may soon be a new No. 1 in net.
According to TSN NHL Insider Darren Dreger, Chiarelli is working the phones on a goalie trade and has settled his sights on young New York Rangers netminder Cam Talbot.
"It's a tough market. It really is. You know who the teams are who are somewhat desperate, frankly, for goaltending. To me, I see two at the top of the list and that's Edmonton and Buffalo. I know Peter Chiarelli is working pretty hard to nail down a goalie and he's got Cam Talbot of the New York Rangers in his crosshairs," Dreger said Thursday, while appearing on Montreal's TSN 690, via TodaysSlapShot.com.
In 57 games in 2015, Scrivens amassed a .890 save percentage and a 3.16 goals against average. Fasth gathered a .888 save percentage and a 3.41 goals against average in 26 games of work. While you could certainly point to the failings of the guys on the ice in front of them for a large portion of why the pair posted such abysmal numbers, there's simply no doubting that Scrivens and Fasth are just as much a part of the problem.
Talbot, just 27, saw ample time for the Broadway Blueshirts this season after Rangers starting netminder Henrik Lundqvist went down for a few weeks with a "vascular injury" after taking a puck to the neck in Feb., and played very well. In 36 games he posted a .926 save percentage and a 2.21 goals against average.
Again, it helps having Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Dan Boyle in front of you, but there's absolutely something to be said for Talbot's efforts during the year, en route to a 21-9-0 record. Combined with Lundqvist's vice-like grip on the starting job in New York, the Rangers are both almost assured to trade Talbot at some point this offseason and make out like bandits in the process.
Murray Pam of The Hockey News suggested earlier this month that the Oilers may be willing to part ways with the 16th-overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft if it lands them Talbot. While that does seem a bit hefty for a guy with just 57 career NHL games to his name, Talbot is also currently signed to a very favorable deal which will pay him $1.45 million in 2015 and entering the point of his career where goalies tend to mature, solidifying into the player they'll always be.
With the Hawks having only just brought the season to a close, there's ample time between now and the regular season for a deal to be done, but with the draft looming, Chiarelli may have no better time to strike on Talbot.
"But Cam Talbot, what is he - 26, 27 years of age," said Dreger. "That's usually the time where a goalie shows his development and where he's at. Do they get much better past 27? Yeah, potentially. But you've got a real strong indication of where they're headed by that time, and that's why Talbot is so highly-regarded."
