The Edmonton Oilers have signed veteran goaltender Mike Smith on the first day of free agency. Smith will earn $2MM on a one-year contract
With Mikko Koskinen under contract as their 1A, the Oilers have been looking for a 1B option in goal, but with little money to spend and quite a few holes to fill, the team didn’t have the option of signing one of the high-priced goalies on the market. While Smith has been a solid goaltender in previous years and was even an all-star in the 2017-18 season, the 37-year-old has declined more recently. He appeared in 42 games last season, but saw his save percentage drop below .900 for the first time since the 2010-11 season as he finished the year with at .898. However, the team hopes that Smith can rebound while sharing the net with Koskinen.
Smith would replace Cam Talbot, who was reported earlier today as likely to sign with Calgary, who served as the backup in Edmonton last year until the team traded him to Philadelphia. The Oilers picked up Anthony Stolarz in the deal, but didn’t show much interest in bringing him back. Smith should provide some stability next to Koskinen, who the team locked up to a three-year, $13.5MM deal earlier this year.
Mike was the best thing Calgary had going through the playoffs
He won’t be swapping places with Talbot, he’ll be *replaced* by Talbot. If he was swapping places, he’d be heading east…
To be fair to Holger, here, those words were Seravalli’s. So the botch-job belongs to Frank The Tank. (link to twitter.com) Keep it up Frank, and you’ll be impeached out of the PHWA!