Dear MacT, Your Goalie Solution

Dear Craig MacTavish,

It is with sincere concern that I am writing to you today. After hearing your ghastly version of a press conference, I have come to the conclusion that you really are in over your head and clearly have some sort of delusional fairy dust sprinkled in your food with your breakfast.

With that preface out of the way, I want to warn you there will be a few more of these letters coming your way.

Today, I would like to advise you on the issues of goaltending for the current franchise (The Edmonton Oilers) that you are supposedly in charge of running.

I must admit I was one of the people who thought you did an admirable job addressing our goaltending troubles last season. After you shattered Devan Dubnyk’s confidence prior to the season, I thought you were a little out of it. Nonetheless, Dubnyk went on to post horrid numbers behind a swarm defense that your choice of coach implemented.

Just when I thought you were another Tambellini sitting on your hands, you went out and brought in Ilya Bryzgalov. I enjoyed cheering for Bryz and he solidified the position much better than Dubnyk. Bravo!

With Dubnyk’s poor performance, I thought it was unlikely that you would be able to find a taker for him, but you did a great job acquiring Matt Hendricks. Bravo once again.

Then you turned around a flipped a draft pick that became Ben Scrivens. Wow. A 59-save shutout???? Amazing! Scrivvy looked really good even though he eventually wavered. I wasn’t completely comfortable with just Scrivens as our top puck-stopper so you went out and acquired another goalie with potential in Viktor Fasth. It all looked so good that I was enamoured with the possibility of having two goalies who can stop a puck!

Well…..they say hindsight is 20/20 and I wish I could have seen the signs myself. Two unproven goalies behind and unproven defense and a forward group that only consisted of two NHL centres was a recipe for disaster.

But now don’t you worry about next season, because i’ve got just the solution to finally solidify the goaltending next year and for many years to come.

Let me get this through your head, the Edmonton Oilers absolutely need a PROVEN BONAFIDE NUMBER ONE GOALTENDER. That means no Cam Talbot, no Martin Jones and no Matt O’Connor. The Edmonton Oilers need to find a guy who can duplicate the success that was the Flames’ signing of Jonas Hiller.

Laurent Brossoit played admirably in his NHL debut, but PLEASE OH DEAR GOD PLEASE do not throw this guy in with the lions. He has a chance to completely develop at a normal pace and become the absolute bonafide number one goaltender for many years. Btw, you did a great job acquiring this guy….just wish you didn’t deal my favourite defenseman to get him….Miss you Laddy.

Two words: Craig Anderson.

You have Ben Scrivens under contract next year and I have absolutely no problems with this guy as the backup. He has clearly proven that being a backup is his ceiling. Call him the new Bob Essensa.

Craig Anderson is currently in a logjam with the Ottawa Senator’s, having lost his job to the “Hamburglar”, Andrew Hammond after an injury. Hammond has done enough to earn an NHL job for next season even if he is playing out of mind like Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher to name a few, and Robin Lehner is the future of the Senator’s crease. That leaves Anderson as the odd-man out.

Pounce on this while you can.

Anderson has been in the NHL for quite a while and he has been a number one goaltender since the 2009-10 season. He’s 33 years of age and a little injury prone, but he is showing no signs of slowing down. This past season he had an astounding .923 save percentage while playing behind a defense that is not dazzling anybody.

He’s still under contract until the 2017-18 season, which is the year I believe Laurent Brossoit will be ready to be an NHL goaltender. It just makes so much sense.

He’s a great locker room guy, and he will be a great teacher to young Brossoit as well as a steady veteran presence between the pipes that should allow the Edmonton Oilers to grow into a decent NHL team.

Considering the stockpiling of draft picks, this deal shouldn’t be too hard to make.

I’m guessing a 2nd, 3rd and prospect such as Jordan Oesterle, Tyler Pitlick or Jujhar Khaira could get it done….

Please Craig MacTavish, if I have to watch one more season that is wasted because of poor goaltending, I may just go out of my flipping mind.

I hope you get this and make it happen. If you do I will finally use the hashtag #craigsonit without being sarcastic.

Sincerley,

Trin Potratz, The Oilers Rig

PS- I’ll be writing about your pro scouts next.

Ciao!