The Rig Roundtable: Goalie Edition

After a week with some iffy goaltending (and last night’s result notwithstanding), this week’s question should come as no surprise.

How confident are you in the Oilers goaltending situation? If Talbot gets hurt, can Brossoit carry the load?

Sullivan Larson

I will preface this by saying that Brossoit is one of our top prospects and by all accounts seems to be a very solid young goaltender.

If Talbot were to go down, it most likely means the end of our hopes for a playoff run. As much as I like Brossoit, I don’t think he is ready to steal games or let alone a series in the playoffs. The truth is, we’ll need our starter (and second most important player) to win us one or two games in the playoffs and maybe even a series.

So, the answer is no. If Talbot goes down, I don’t think Brossoit is ready to carry the load.

Bret Litke

With the added benefit of having witnessed Brossoit’s win on Saturday night, I can say with a bit more confidence that I do trust the current goaltending situation.

Cam has looked a little bit fatigued as of late but with a just a little more rest than he has been receiving this season, I trust that he can carry on with the superb play that we have become accustomed to all year long.

I also believe that in what we have seen from Brossoit this year, we can sleep a bit easier if something were to happen to Cam. Yeah, the sample size has been smaller but LB has shown in his opportunities that his play has matured to a much better place than last year. He is calm in the net, smart with his movement,and overall, capable of competently performing his role as an NHL backup. That is all we can ask.

Preston Hodgkinson

This is a real difficult subject to discuss for the Oilers…

Outside of Connor McDavid I think it is safe to say that Cam Talbot has very much been the MVP of this team. He’s stolen countless games and has even gotten himself into the Vezina conversation. Without Talbot I don’t think the Oilers make the playoffs.

As for his backup, Laurent Brossoit, I have extremely high hopes for him. He hasn’t seen much playing time behind Talbot but he does hold potential to be a serviceable backup. His last few appearances have been extremely encouraging and I have a good amount of confidence that he could handle the workload of a few games if Talbot went down with an injury.

It would have been nice for the team to acquire a PROVEN backup at the deadline though…

Alex Thomas

I’m confident in Laurent Brossoit as a stopgap option for when the Oilers play bottom feeders, but other than that I think Peter Chiarelli made a mistake by not acquiring a veteran at the deadline. Brossoit has paid his dues, but has proven absolutely nothing at the NHL level and it would be an absolute disaster if Cam Talbot got hurt in the stretch drive to the playoffs or the postseason itself. Yes, the Oilers are confident in Brossoit, but until I see him produce at the NHL level, I will not be confident in him as the backup.

And no, I don’t think right now is the time to test drive a young goalie.