Robin Lehner has operated solely as a backup in net for the Ottawa Senators thus far in his short, four-plus year NHL career.
Because of this limited opportunity to showcase his skills, he's still considered a somewhat unknown commodity both within the Senators organization and across the league.
Even so, another NHL team - the Edmonton Oilers - forced to endure probably the worst goaltending tandem in the league, is rumored to have interest in trading for the young netminder.
TSN Insider Darren Dreger, appearing on an episode of Edmonton's TSN 1260 and answering the host's question as to whether or not he was surprised that the Senators weren't yet ready to give up on starting goaltender, Craig Anderson, said that Lehner's status is what is impeding a deal.
"Not really because I don't think they know what they had yet in Robin Lehner. And that's the big issue. Teams have called on Robin Lehner. In fact, I think that there's been communication in the past between the Oilers and Ottawa Senators specific to Robin Lehner," Dreger said, per NicholsOnHockey.com.
There was talk earlier this month that Senators GM Bryan Murray would potentially deal Anderson, but he squashed that speculation, again pointing to Lehner's somewhat unknown ability.
"Why would I do that at this point? We don't have a third goaltender. Robin (Lehner) is close to being ready, but he's got to play more games. If you don't have goaltending in this league, you don't have anything. We know that," Murray said on TSN 1200.
Now, it may end up being the young backup that's shipped out of town and finally given the opportunity to amass those games and gain that experience.
At only 23, Lehner, a former second-round pick, has ample NHL life left in his body. Last season, appearing in 36 games, he finished with a 3.06 GAA and a .913 SV percentage.
This year, in 16 games, he's got a 3.16 GAA and a .900 SV percentage.
For the Oilers, doing their best to win the Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel sweepstakes behind the dual, putrid net presences of Viktor Fasth (3.37 GAA, .888 SV percentage) and Ben Scrivens (3.05 GAA, .895 SV percentage), Lehner could be a talented young piece to bring in with a, potentially, very high ceiling.
