Back to the drawing board for Edmonton Oilers as Kings re-claim netminder Troy Grosenick on waivers

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Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner takes part in a team practice in Edmonton on Friday Jan. 15, 2021. Photo by Larry Wong /Postmedia

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Game Day 13: Edmonton at Calgary

So long, Troy Grosenick, we hardly knew ye.

For the second time this season the Edmonton Oilers have lost their would-be #3 goalie on waivers. This time it’s Grosenick, who was re-claimed by the LA Kings on Saturday morning after being waived by the Oilers on Friday.

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The Oilers initially claimed Grosenick from the Kings three weeks ago today, to fill the hole left when Carolina Hurricanes grabbed Edmonton’s previous #3 stopper, Anton Forsberg, on waivers at season’s start. The Hurricanes claim was a defensive manoeuvre to ensure they had a qualified #3 man while placing their own third stopper, Alex Nedeljkovic, on waivers the same day they claimed Forsberg. But when Nedeljkovic cleared the next morning, the Hurricanes put Forsberg right back on waivers. Many thought the Oilers would then re-claim Forsberg but the Winnipeg Jets, who had just lost their own #3 goalie Eric Comrie on waivers to New Jersey Devils, had priority.

Trouble ensued almost immediately from an Edmonton perspective when backup Mike Smith got injured in the warm-up for the very first game of the season. That forced developing youngster Stuart Skinner on to the roster as the #2 man, and Oilers GM Ken Holland to search the waiver wire for other alternatives. After first passing up a “revenge claim” of Nedeljkovic (who realistically might have been traded back to Carolina for Forsberg), he settled on the next reasonably qualified stopper to hit the waiver wire, that being Grosenick.

While Grosenick was in transit, Holland later put in a claim on Toronto’s Aaron Dell, but so did New Jersey, who had priority. The Devils have now collected four NHL goalies on their extended roster despite the surprise retirement of Corey Crawford on the eve of the season, one of the key events that precipitated all of this mayhem.

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Eventually Grosenick crossed the border and arrived in Edmonton, even as the team itself was on an eastern road trip. Didn’t much matter, given he was unavailable to the team for quarantine reasons. While on the road, the Oilers had to stash two different EBUGs (emergency backup goalies) in hotel rooms in Toronto and Winnipeg just in case something happened to one of their two available stoppers.

That included the untried Skinner in the backup role while Mikko Koskinen started and finished Edmonton’s first 10 games in a row. The 31-year-old Grosenick finally got to dress and wear the ball cap and “street mask” on the bench for a couple of games, while Skinner did get one game of actual action, an 8-5 win over Ottawa Senator last Sunday.

With Smith returning to practice yesterday, Ken Holland tried to pull a similar manoeuvre with Grosenick as he had with Forsberg — waive him to the taxi squad — only to see the team that originally had his rights put in a claim. Not too surprising, either, given the Kings had to replace Grosenick on their own taxi squad with 20-year-old Jacob Ingham, a first-year pro.

Smith is apparently ready to rejoin the roster once his mandatory 24 days on Long Term Injured Reserve expires tomorrow, meaning the Oilers will be obliged to activate their own developing youngster, Skinner, from the taxi squad to back up Koskinen as the Oilers play in Calgary tonight.

Skinner will presumably return to the taxi squad in the days and weeks to come, but will not be available for game action with the Oilers AHL affiliate Bakersfield Condors for the foreseeable future. That will help neither the Condors nor the youngster’s development in the crucial final season of his Entry Level Contract.

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The timing of all this is somewhat surprising as Holland had other alternatives to tinker with the roster, or not tinker at all given Smith isn’t eligible to join it for tonight’s game. As it stands, the group includes 12 forwards, 9 defencemen, and 2 goalies, as the GM has chosen to use all three of his “extra” spots on the 23-man list on rearguards. One of them, Evan Bouchard, can freely be moved to and from the taxi squad any time he is not in the line-up. The same goes for depth forward Alex Chiasson, who did clear waivers earlier this week.

In the meantime, maybe some minstrel can compose “The Ballad of Troy Grosenick”. It’ll be a sad song about a bizarre road trip that saw the veteran netminder hop in his truck to drive from Los Angeles to Edmonton. There’ll be a verse about a pause at the 49th parallel while the Oilers put in their claim on Dell, then another about spending time in an Edmonton hotel room in quarantine, and another about finally joining the team long enough for a handful of optional practices, a couple of pre-game warm-ups, and one splendid Zoom interview. More stanzas to come as he’s back on the road, presumably in the same truck, heading back to whence he came and a further period in quarantine before he’s even eligible to join the Kings’ practice roster. I sure hope somebody covers off his expenses and includes a generous per diem.

It’s been a difficult year for third netminders generally, after the NHL mandated each team must carry one but made no allowances for fitting them on the active roster, resulting in a string of claims and counterclaims but precious little game action for any of them. I reckon more reserve goaltenders have crossed the Canada-USA border this season than players of all other positions combined.

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The NHL deserves its share of criticism for its oversight (using the term advisedly) of the mandated third goalie wrinkle and the law of unintended consequences which followed. Essentially, the best league in the world has resorted to Rent-A-Goalie tactics.

Holland’s management of the situation should also come under the microscope. So far this season Edmonton’s goalie crew has included Koskinen, Smith, Forsberg, Grosenick, Skinner, temporary taxi squad additions Dylan Wells and Olivier Rodrigue, and a pair of anonymous EBUGs. Not counting Dell, I count nine (9) netminders who have figured in the equation to this point, and we’re just a dozen games into the season!

While the return of Smith “should” stabilize the situation into two main men who render the taxi squad irrelevant, fact is that the 38-year-old already suffered a significant injury before facing a puck fired in anger. Holland’s unwillingness to find room on his 23-man list for a legit #3 stopper has already caused more than its share of uncertainty if not chaos. Clearly he values depth players at other positions, notably depth defenders like William Lagesson and Slater Koekkoek, and continues to roll the dice between the pipes.

Tonight’s line-up

…is uncertain as the Oilers prepare for their first Battle of Alberta since an epic three-game series culminated in an 8-3 Oilers beatdown right in the Saddledome on the first Saturday in February one year ago.

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Ethan Bear remains out, seven days after being hurt. His placement on IR is presumably retroactive to his last action, meaning he could be reactivated as soon as next game.

For now that opens up a spot on the roster, which the Oilers have filled with Jujhar Khaira. The addition of Skinner was forced by the loss of Grosenick as discussed above.

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Reading the tea leaves, should Tippett decide on 12 forwards tonight, the 6’4, 212 lb. Khaira might draw into the line-up, be it at centre or left wing. He’s also a useful penalty killer. Last time these two clubs played 53 weeks ago tonight, Khaira took on Calgary’s Buddy Robinson in a preliminary bout of what became a fight-filled contest. It’s remembered to this day for the rare goalie fight between Smith and Cam Talbot, now with Minnesota Wild.

Don’t expect Koskinen to drop the specialized gloves, but beyond that almost anything is possible when these two clubs get together. While the Oilers are one of six NHL teams to have zero major penalties this season and the Flames have just one, the very sight of one another is apt to raise the temperature a few degrees.

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Late update

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Tippett has decided to stick with 11 forwards, 7 defencemen. Two changes up front, where James Neal replaces Alex Chiasson, while Khaira draws in for Gaetan Haas who missed practice on Friday and clearly is not ready to go. The seven defenders remain unchanged, as does the starting netminder.

Recently at the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: Smith soon to return, Oilers waive Grosenick

McCURDY: Wide-open Canadian Division features many goals, few Bettman Points

STAPLES: Puljujarvi making important progress

LEAVINS: Game grades as Oilers thump Ottawa Senators again

McCURDY: Draisaitl & McDavid setting searing pace 

Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy

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