Insider Says Edmonton Oilers 'Missed Out on Swayman' Last Summer

Connor McDavid in the slot in front of Jeremy Swayman

After the buzzworthy Connor McDavid media conference on Wednesday, in which he continued to say he's in no rush to sign an extension with the Edmonton Oilers right now, one insider, Elliotte Friedman, suggested that McDavid feels that there's 'something imperfect' about the Oilers team makeup right now. It wouldn't be going out on a limb to suggest that "imperfection" is quite likely the goaltending.

But the Oilers could be in an entirely different situation right now had they gotten aggressive last summer, says one insider.

Did the Oilers miss out on acquiring Jeremy Swayman in blockbuster trade?

On Daily Faceoff's The Sheet podcast with Jeff Marek this week, Pierre McGuire said the Oilers could potentially have swooped in last August/September on the chaos surrounding the Boston Bruins and nabbed goaltender Jeremy Swayman.

Did they miss out on Swayman? The only reason I bring it up is, I was living in Boston then. It was volatile beyond belief with what was going on with the goaltending situation there. And I just wonder if they didn’t miss out on the potential of hitting a home run with Boston to solidify their goaltending position.

Marek agreed, noting the impatience of the Bruins with contentious contract negotiations. “When things go south, the Boston Bruins don’t hesitate to pull the trigger on big deals,” he said.

Swayman wound up signing two days before the regular season, an eight-year contract extension with a cap hit of $8.25 million. But after missing all of training camp, Swayman got off to a slow start and never really recovered, finishing with a disappointing .892 save percentage and a 3.11 goals against average on a team that struggled overall throughout the season.

Had the Oilers managed to bring Swayman in, it could have been the difference between winning a Stanley Cup, and being in the current situation of not knowing when, and for how long, the game's greatest player will choose to stick around.