It’s hard to imagine the Edmonton Oilers will pass up on Aaron Dell

And the Journal’s Jim Matheson: “How many goalies are Oilers going to have on their carousel if they were to claim Dell too? Would he even get to them on waivers? Dell would go right to roster and when Smith returns he would stay there. Behooves teams to carry 3 goalies if goalies keep getting claimed.”

My take

1. Why mention Friedman’s speculative question here? He’s one of the most plugged in NHL writers and if this is occurring to him, it’s certainly occurring to Ken Holland and the Edmonton Oilers. Plus, given how plugged in Friedman is, there’s a non-zero chance that Friedman might know something here about the Oil’s intent.

2. With Smith out, and goalie Mikko Koskinen outplayed in two of his first three games, Holland would be incompetent if he weren’t looking into taking Dell. Holland is not incompetent.

3. If Dell is still available when the Oilers are set to pick, I can’t see any solid reason why Edmonton would pass over him. On Saturday morning, desperate to plug two holes left by Smith’s injury and losing Anton Forsberg on waivers, the Oilers grabbed career minor league goalie Troy Grosenick. It was a decent bet, but Dell is a much better one. Indeed, some Oilers observers had hoped Edmonton would sign Dell over Smith this summer.

4. The fact is that the Oilers can use both Grosenick AND Dell. With Forsberg out, Edmonton can use Grosenick as a back-up in the AHL. Grosenick also gives the Oilers cover in case they have two goalie injuries this year, as he’s a solid enough bet to be an NHL back up.