Top NHL insider reveals Oilers' ridiculous stance on goalie trade

That Stan Bowman believes no goalie is available that is worth trading for, and that those that aren't available cost too much, seems to me like an excuse to not upgrade on his current tandem of goalies.

One thing with which the Oilers' GM has been consistent is his desire to run the season with Skinner and Pickard, a strategy about which he'd been quite vocal in the early days of the campaign.

Yet, his 'leave as is' strategy is not working for Edmonton, whose goals against continue to climb to dangerous levels. Given they're not scoring, this becomes an even bigger issue.

Pickard had a rough start against Columbus last night - 5 goals against on 25 shots for an .800 save percentage. He has a sub-average 4.17 GAA and an equally low save percentage of .830.

Even with the GAA down right across the league, Pickard's just won't cut it on a team that expects to go the distance. Not by a long shot.

Yet, Stan Bowman has not been able to find anyone that is better. Why? It wouldn't even cost much, and there are plenty of back-up goalies ready to take advantage of Edmonton's situation.

Of course, when your starting goalie's stats aren't much better, it amplifies the issue all the more.

Stuart Skinner GAA is .889 this year, worse than last season's even, when he finished the year with .896.

I have to believe that Bowman has a plan in place that we simply don't know; and any day now we'll hear that he's pulled-off the deal of the decade.

But for now, even a small improvement in goal would be something, and definitely better than the status quo.