Yahoo Sports Oilers Connected To John Gibson Once Again
EDMONTON -- And the world keeps spinning.
Stop me if you have heard this before: Edmonton Oilers are connected to goaltender John Gibson.
It seems like an annual tradition for the Oilers to be connected to the Anaheim Ducks netminder. Every other year, the rumors involve the Oilers inquiring about Gibson.
This year, it's different.
According to The Athletic's Pierre Lebrun, this rumor starts with Gibson himself. In a recent article, he reported that the veteran goalie could be on the move by the March 7 trade deadline, largely because of the impeccable play of young Lukas Dostal.
After mentioning the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes as the top suitors of the veteran's services, he name-dropped Edmonton as a dark horse candidate.
"An outlier team in the mix is Edmonton," Lebrun writes. "Gibson has a modified no-trade clause, but my understanding is he would consider the Oilers, who came one win short of the cup last season."
My Take
Gibson has seen his goals against average (GAA) and save percentage (SV%) decline for nearly a decade. The last time he performed at respectable numbers over an entire season was in 2018-19 when he sported a 2.84 GAA and a .917 SV%.
He had a 26-22-8 record that season.
Dostal has taken over the net this year, starting in 13 of the Ducks' 18 games played. James Reimer has started two games, and Gibson with three.
He's done very well in those games, posting a SV% of .950, .840, and .900. The Ducks won all three of those games.
According to MoneyPuck, he has saved 1.2 goals above expected (GSAx). Dostal leads the league in this statistic with 13.7. For reference, Stuart Skinner has the second worst GSAx of all the NHL with -10.4. Calvin Pickard ranks 40th with -0.1. Gibson ranks 30th.
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
While Gibson has posted better results than the current Oilers' netminders, three games is not a big enough sample size to pull the trigger on a deal like this.
Even if he is open to coming to Edmonton, he must have more consistent results for the Oilers to consider acquiring him.
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