Elite goaltender becomes available for trade and the Oilers are interested

According to a new report from TSN's Pierre LeBrun, the Nashville Predators are currently entertaining trade offers for their elite starting goaltender, Juuse Saros.

At the end of next season, Saros is slated to become a free agent and is questionable to commit to the Predators long term. At the same time, Nashville has a new young superstar goalie emerging in the organization in Yaroslav Askarov, making Saros a little more expendable. LeBrun said the Predators are still circling around to extend Saros, but aren't opposed to the idea of trading him.

For the last few seasons, Saros has been one of the few consistently elite goaltenders across the NHL. In the last 2 seasons, he's played more than 60 games with a save percentage of .918%. He's struggled a bit this season with his save percentage dropping to .900, but his 320 games of NHL experience show that he can turn it around. Owed just $5M for this season and next, Saros could become one of the few high end, cheap goaltenders available for trade this offseason.


With many contending teams in need of stable goaltending, the Predators could likely trade Saros now for a king's ransom - the price likely being multiple first round draft picks and high end prospects or NHL ready players. Teams interested in Saros would likely be the Carolina Hurricanes, LA Kings, New Jersey Devils, and Edmonton Oilers. Certainly, the Edmonton Oilers will kick tires on Saros as an elite goaltender and affordable contract that could propel them to the next level - the question will be if Holland can put together an offer to persuade the Nashville Predators.