Edmonton Oilers In Desperation Mode, Carter Hart Attracting Attention?

As the Philadelphia Flyers continue to navigate through a rebuild under rookie executives Danny Briere and Keith Jones, rumours have picked back up from the offseason.

Almost 6 months ago, the Philadelphia Flyers were all over trade talks during the summer. Including between the pipes. General manager Danny Briere was and still is willing to listen on anyone and that includes Carter Hart. All though no offer was good enough for Danny Briere to bite and the Flyers kept Carter Hart in goal.

The Flyers know this rebuild will take time and Carter Hart may not want to be a part of another rebuilding team at the end of this season. It leaves Danny Briere open to ideas but they will have to bowl him over if a team wants Carter Hart. The fact of the matter is there are not many goalies his age who have the track record and experience that Hart has, making him a rare commodity.

Another conflict of interest right now in moving Carter Hart is the possible results of the Hockey Canada investigation. Reportedly nobody knows who is involved but Carter Hart was on the team that is under fire, making things arguably complicated.

During the offseason, rumours were circulating that Carter Hart was a potential target for the Edmonton Oilers and other Canadian teams were also in the mix: Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs. The front-running Oilers announced that the club would continue with Jack Campbell as their No. 1 starter putting an end to that notion, at the time.

The Oilers signed Jack Campbell to a 5-year $25,000,000 contract, carrying an annual average salary of $5,000,000. 16-months into the new contract, Campbell has been mediocre. This put the Oilers and current head coach Jay Woodcroft in a bind, forcing the team to put the 31-year-old on waivers for purpose of assignment.

The Edmonton Oilers have had an undeniably bad history with goalies over the past few years. Jack Campbell was supposed to be the answer to their problems but it appears he is restarting old ones. Stuart Skinner is seemingly getting the nod over Jack Campbell. However, it does not seem to matter which netminder is in the crease. The Oilers continue to lose and both netminders are among the top 10 worst GSAx so far this season.

Not to mention, things have been an absolute disaster for the Oilers, sitting 31st in the entire league with a 2-8-1 record, just ahead of the 32nd-place San Jose Sharks. There are many to blame for the teams struggles but the biggest issue remains in goal.

The main consensus seems to be that if the Oilers were shopping for a new goaltender it would likely be Carter Hart. The Sherwood Park native would bring in a lot of assets for the Philadelphia Flyers if he were to be dealt, no matter the team. But in the Oilers’ case, GM Ken Holland may have to overpay out of desperation if he is looking for a goalie upgrade. Putting himself and the Oilers in the worst possible trade position. Nonetheless, the Flyers brass have made it known they’re willing to take on unideal contracts, in this case, Jack Campbell. Then again, it just has to be the right price.

Carter Hart’s current $4.4 million contract (that expires next summer) is substantially less than Jack Campbell’s paycheck. This means Hart will be looking for a significant pay increase when his contract is up after the 2023-24 season. And with the way Hart was playing pre-injury, he very well could be looking at a contract in the ballpark of $7-8M or higher. Even then that is still significantly less than what Campbell is making to play in the minors.

Acquiring Carter Hart to join his long-time friend Stuart Skinner in Edmonton would provide the Oilers with a Stanley Cup-contending tandem. A reliable starting netminder with a solid young backup in Skinner. Dropping Campbell’s cap hit helps out a fair bit as well to get the Oilers the kind of depth needed to fill holes in the bottom six and build a true contender.

By: Dylan Robillard (@DylanRobillard_)

Photo Credit: Philadelphia Flyers/X