In a one-for-one goalie trade, the team sent former #1 goalie Cam Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers for promising 25-year-old Anthony Stolarz.
For the Oilers, the move frees up cap space right now to bring the injured Andrej Sekera back in the lineup under the salary cap, and adds a younger goalie with the same upside as Talbot but not already bummed out by the way the team has under-performed for two years. Stolarz will also be a restricted free agent this off-season (provided he plays in 10 games before the end of the season), so the team technically still has control over him.
The Flyers, on the other hand, already own the rights to two promising young goalies in Felix Sandström and Kirill Ustimenko, notwithstanding their current #1 Carter Hart, who is barely 20 years old. Talbot becomes an option to back him up next year along with Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth - but Talbot has an edge, as he's been training with Hart in the summer for a few years and has already been mentoring him from a distance; Hart called Talbot up for tips the night before his first NHL game a few weeks ago.
Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher has also had success in the past with Oilers reclamation projects, as he's the one who brought Devan Dubnyk to the Minnesota Wild. Ironically, with Fletcher gone, Dubnyk's on a much tighter leash than the rest of the elite at his position (for example, Sergei Bobrovsky and Carey Price), and there is talk that the man who was at the NHL All-Star Game just two weeks ago may no longer be the one to lead the team to the postseason.
But back to Talbot who, just two years ago, was on top of the NHL world, lead the league in games played (73) and wins (42), was third in shutouts (7), and also boasted an incredible 2.39 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. He was second to just Bobrovsky in the "best goalie" talks. Just like Dubnyk, he just needs a reset to get back on track.
The only question is whether he'll get that reset in Philadelphia or elsewhere.
Here he is sporting the Oilers' beautiful white (now-away) uniform, on card #GJ-CT from Upper Deck's 2017-18 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:
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