Oilers GM Ken Holland opens up on team's trade deadline ambitions, goalie Jack Campbell's future 

By Vignesh Krishnan

Modified Jan 08, 2024 22:24 GMT

The Edmonton Oilers found themselves in a world of trouble early on in the 2023/24 NHL season. Just 12 games into the campaign, their championship ambitions were put under the microscope thanks to a 2-9-1 start.

Fast forward to early January and the team now finds itself battling for a wild-card spot. Some significant changes of course have proved to be the catalyst for the Oilers' miraculous turnaround.

New head coach, Kris Knoblauch, has ushered in a sense of renewed hope as the Oilers are currently 17-6-0 since having the former Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach take over.

With the side now pushing for a playoff spot, Oilers GM Ken Holland, while speaking to The Athletic, was questioned whether or not more changes were to be expected for the side, especially, in the goaltender department. He said,

"What I would say to any question is we are having our pro scouting meetings in a couple of weeks. Just like every other team, you’re going to go through your own team and see where you’re at... We’ll make an assessment."

While not definitively ruling out the idea of moving for a new goaltender, Holland did shower praise on their current crop including starter Stuart Skinner:

"Skinner is playing excellent hockey, and we’re playing much better as a team defensively... He is playing really good. Calvin Pickard has been a really good backup. There’s great chemistry between them. Pickard’s an unreal team player; he really supports Stuart Skinner."

With the trade deadline set for March 8, Holland took some time to also address the future of their out-of-favor goaltender Jack Campbell.

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Ken Holland not willing to rule out Jack Campbell's Oilers return

A big reason behind the Oilers' sluggish start was their inability to keep the puck out of their own net. Campbell, an All-Star back in 2022, found himself in the firing line being the team's starting goalie through their first five games. All of which ended in defeat.

Averaging a dismal 4.50 goals per game through that stretch, the Oilers were forced to reconsider their options between the sticks. Ultimately, they were left with no choice but to place the veteran goalie on waivers in November last year.

When asked about the 31-year-old goalie's future with the franchise, Holland shed some light on how they plan on proceeding with Campbell's contract:

"I’ll watch Jack Campbell, I’ll work the phones, I’ll watch our team and ultimately between now and the trade deadline, make some decisions with our staff as to what we think we need to do."

Campbell currently finds himself plying his trade with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL). But even in the AHL, his performances hardly resemble that of a player who signed a $25 million contract with the NHL side back in 2022.