Could Bernier be the Oilers' goalie of the future?
Connor McDavid. A slightly more experienced core that will include four former No. 1 overall draft picks. Todd McLellan behind the bench.
The Oilers and their fans have plenty to get excited about heading into next season, but let's be realistic: Edmonton won't be a serious contender until the back end becomes something other than a sieve. The Oilers have finished dead last in the NHL in goals allowed in each of the past two seasons, and the Ben Scrivens/Viktor Fasth combo this past year was, frankly, not good, although the defense didn't help much.
It seems unlikely that Edmonton will go into next season without addressing the goalie spot, which would be be easier and probably more cost-effective than attempting to make massive upgrades among the defensive corps.
So what/who are the options? The obvious candidates are unrestricted free agent Antti Niemi along with the Hurricanes' Cam Ward and the Senators' Craig Anderson, both of whom are widely thought to be available due to their respective teams having ready-made replacements on the roster.
But another option, as brought up by The Hockey News, is Jonathan Bernier of the Maple Leafs. Speculation in Toronto is that the Leafs will keep only one of Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer, so Bernier probably could be had for the right price. And his numbers have been respectable (2.76 GAA and .917 save percentage in 113 starts) over the past two years despite playing on a bad team that gives up a boatload of shots. Plus, at 26, it's not like he's on the downside of his career.
Perhaps as important is the fact that Bernier will be a restricted free agent this summer after finishing out a two-year, $5.8 million deal. Assuming that the Leafs aren't particularly keen to hold on to him, Bernier would make sense as a young-but-experienced-and-somewhat-proven option for the Oilers, who wouldn't have to give up as much as they likely would to get, say, Ward or Anderson and would get a netminder for the future who's five years younger than the 31-year-old Niemi.
Overall it's a rather convincing argument, one worth remembering as the Oilers continue their offseason rebuild in hopes of soon not being eligible for the draft lottery that's been so good to them over the past five years.
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
