NHL Insider Reveals Edmonton Oilers Missed Opportunity to Land a Star Goaltender

Just two short years ago, the Boston Bruins were the best regular season team in NHL history, and with the goaltending tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, they seemed destined for a Stanley Cup run.

Things have gone sideways since that however, as the team traded Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators before handing Swayman an extension, a deal that came with plenty of drama that played out very publicly in Boston.

While the Bruins would ultimately lock in their No. 1 goaltender for years to come on an 8-year, $66 million deal, GM Don Sweeney was very forthcoming with his criticisms of the star goalie, who in turn was seemingly hurt by the way things played out during their arbitration hearing.

In the following season, Swayman had his worst season in the National Hockey League, posting a 3.11 GAA and an .892 save percentage, with many questioning his future as the starting goaltender in Boston.

Now, on the latest episode of The Sheet with Jeff Marek, insider Pierre McGuire has suggested that this was the prime opportunity for the Edmonton Oilers to land a star goaltender, as he believed there was the chance to trade for Swayman once all of this was going down.

It's unclear just how available Swayman was, but McGuire suggests that if the Oilers were more aggressive, there's a chance this could have happened, and while he doesn't rule it out from happening in the future, it was a clear missed opportunity that may have cost Edmonton the Stanley Cup.