{"id":46314,"date":"2019-06-30T17:28:04","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T21:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=46314"},"modified":"2019-06-30T17:28:04","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T21:28:04","slug":"report-mike-smith-to-sign-with-the-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/06\/30\/report-mike-smith-to-sign-with-the-edmonton-oilers\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Mike Smith to Sign With the Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to TSN’s Frank Seravalli, The Edmonton Oilers<\/a>\u00a0and free-agent goalie Mike Smith<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>have agreed on a contract. Financial terms will be announced on July 1st when free agency officially opens.<\/p>\n

\n

Veteran goalie Mike Smith has chosen the #Oilers<\/a>. He\u2019s more or less trading places with Cam Talbot, who as we hinted on Monday, is heading to the #Flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More on what that means for Lehner, Mrazek, and the rest of the goalie market on @SportsCentre<\/a> at 6pm ET.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 30, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mike Smith to Sign With the Edmonton Oilers<\/h1>\n

Over his 13-year NHL career Smith has played for the Dallas Stars<\/a>, Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>, Phoenix\/Arizona Coyotes<\/a>, and Calgary Flames<\/a>. He has a goals-against-average of 2.70, with a save percentage of .912 in 571 career games. The veteran netminder also has added 38 shutouts. Smith has a 243-236-68 record. He was originally drafted in the fifth round, 161st\u00a0overall at the 2001 NHL draft by the Dallas Stars.<\/p>\n

Last season he held a 2.72 goals-against-average and .898 save percentage. It was his worst save percentage registered in his NHL career. He also had two shutouts during the 2018-19 season. He collected a 23-16-2 record with the Flames.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What This Means for the Future<\/h2>\n

While Smith may be a veteran he also just turned 37-years-old. He had expressed that he\u2019d like to come back to the Calgary Flames, but the team also has some other contracts to fit into their budget and has reportedly added<\/a> former Oilers (and Flyers) goalie Cam Talbot<\/strong>.\u00a0 That means that Smith has become expendable. He moves to the Oilers who need a 1B option to go with Mikko Koskinen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Smith has an eccentric goaltending style where he tends to wander from the security of his crease thinking he’s a defenseman and plays the puck. That can have good and bad consequences for where the puck ends up after he leaves his crease.<\/p>\n

He’s still a serviceable netminder and can contribute when he’s on. That seems to be the issue though, that he runs hot and cold. Just look at his performance in the Flames first-round playoff games. He had a shutout in Game 1 and then gave up six goals later in the series.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>