Ultimately, despite all the hand-wringing and criticism, Edmonton’s goaltending wasn’t the black hole many people feared it would be when GM Ken Holland rested such an important campaign on the shoulders of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen last year.
Smith, using his own unique blend of spectacular netminding and jaw-dropping blunders, got Edmonton to the Western Conference final before he and the rest of the Oilers succumbed to a Colorado team that went 16-4 in the post-season.
He beat Jonathan Quick in the first round, Jacob Markstrom in the second and finished with .915 and .913 save percentages in the regular season and playoffs. He earned every penny of that $2.2-million contract.
But the organization has stepped over a threshold and into an era where winning two rounds isn’t good enough anymore. They are positioning themselves to win a championship — soon, if not now — and the cornerstone of that march is a Stanley Cup-calibre goaltender.
According to the five-year, $25 million contract he signed last summer, that guy is Jack Campbell.
It’s on him now. The season. The Cup dreams. All of it.
The Oilers need to get some winning done before Connor McDavid’s contract expires in four seasons and Leon Drasaitl’s expires in three. How Campbell performs will be no small part of the equation.
It’s a responsibility and a pressure he has no choice but to get comfortable with.
“When we got the deal done it felt so good for Ken and management, the coaching staff, ownership and the players to believe in me,” he said after the Oilers veterans scrimmaged Friday morning at Rogers Place.
“It motivates me so much, every second of the day, to do the best I can and do some special things here. I can’t wait to do my part to help out and get to that next step of being a champion.”
After being selected 11th overall by the Dallas Stars in the Taylor Hall (2010) draft, Campbell was expected to be in this position a lot sooner, but the 30-year-old is only now getting settled as a full time starter.
He has just 135 NHL games under his belt, 71 of them in the last two years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he says he’s quite at home in the position now. And, as McDavid put it so eloquently last month: “If he can be the starting goalie for the Leafs, he can be the starting goalie anywhere.”
“I knew all along I could be a No. 1,” said Campbell. “Getting the opportunity in Toronto to be the No. 1 guy gave me the feeling I was looking for my whole career. And it’s not just a No. 1 goalie, my goal is to be the best that I can be and help this team win the Stanley Cup and and accomplish some amazing things. I’m so excited and can’t wait to get going.”
Campbell’s overall body is work is impressive (48-12-8 over the last two seasons and a career .916 save percentage), but his final year in Toronto is a tale of two seasons. He had 2.30 GAA and .925 save percentage in his first 32 games, but the numbers took a plunge after the All Star break — 3.28 and .894 over his final 17 games.
In a first round playoff loss to Tampa, he was 3.15 and .897.
How much of that was injury related? How much was Leafs related? Which Campbell will the Oilers get? We’re about to find out.
“I just want to be the best I can,” he said, adding he’s well-equipped mentally to deal with whatever turbulence comes his way in an Edmonton market that usually eats its goalies.
“I’ve learned a lot and gone through a lot of adversity, but I think playing in Toronto and some of the other markets I’ve played in have prepared me for this moment.
“The team is ready to do special things and I think my adversity allowed me to be prepared to do that. I’m ready for this. I can’t wait to get it going.”
It’s a little ironic, if not concerning, that the guy the Oilers are trusting to the lead them through the playoffs only has 14 career post-season games to his credit (6-8 after a seven-game, opening round losses to the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning the last two years), but Campbell’s reviews are good.
He’s a popular teammate that guys want to rally around.
“I think he’s going to be really good for us,” said Draisaitl. “He’s shown it over the last couple of years that he can be a really good goalie in this league.
“We have all the confidence in the world in him. He played for a good team and now he’s going to play for another good team in us. We’re going to help him out as much as we can and we know that he will do whatever he can to help us out.”
And the Oilers have a pretty rock solid record when it comes to ex Leafs. Zach Hyman, Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie have worked out quite well.
“I hope that trend continues,” said Draisaitl.
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