The Edmonton Oilers are suddenly staring at a complex situation. The three-headed goaltending monster that would have been Frederik Andersen, Tristan Jarry, and Devon Levi has been reduced to just Jarry and Levi, at least for the early going.
An unfortunate injury setback has derailed Andersen's offseason recovery, seemingly keeping Andersen off the ice until the end of October. If that's the case, well, the situation might not be so hard.
But what if Andersen's absence extends beyond just the first month of the season? What if the Oilers face a situation in which they will have to roll with a tandem of Jarry and Levi for a significant portion of the season?
The biggest question of all will be: can they win with such a tandem?
On the whole, yes. The Oilers have a team that's talented enough to win with Jarry and Levi manning the crease. That situation depends, of course, on Edmonton's two goalies playing at least a league-average performance.
The rest of the team's success will hinge on the performance in front of its netminders.
And that's where the biggest questions could emerge.
If the Oilers cannot play reliable defense in front of Jarry and Levi, the goaltending may not be good enough to bail them out. And if that's the case, there may be no guarantees that the Oilers could make significant headway next season.
The Oilers don't necessarily need Jarry and Levi to become stars. They just need them to be consistent.
If both goaltenders can give Edmonton something close to league-average goaltending, the team should have enough talent elsewhere to win plenty of games. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the roster can carry a lot of the offensive burden.
But that only works if the goaltending doesn't become a nightly concern.
And that's where things get a little uncomfortable.
Jarry struggled last season, while Levi remains largely unproven at the NHL level. Neither player enters the season with the kind of recent track record that inspires complete confidence. That's particularly problematic for a team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations.
The Oilers can survive a few bad starts. Every team does.
What they can't afford is uncertainty becoming the defining characteristic of the position.
If Jarry and Levi can establish some consistency early, Edmonton may be perfectly fine. If they can't, the team could find itself searching for answers before Andersen even gets back.
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This is where Andersen becomes so important.
The Oilers didn't sign the veteran goaltender simply to give themselves another name on the depth chart. They were counting on him to provide quality starts and, ideally, take some of the pressure off Jarry and Levi.
Even if Andersen only starts a portion of the games, that's potentially valuable.
Andersen doesn't need to play 60 games. And he doesn't need to carry Edmonton through the regular season. He simply needs to be healthy enough to give the Oilers reliable goaltending when they need it.
The longer he's unavailable, however, the more responsibility falls on Jarry and Levi.
That's when the situation could become problematic.
If Andersen can't return soon enough and Jarry struggles again while Levi fails to establish himself, Edmonton may have to reconsider the entire plan. At that point, the Oilers could be forced back into the trade market looking for another goaltender.
That's not exactly the position they want to be in.
Edmonton has built a team designed to compete for a Stanley Cup. It can't afford to have its biggest weakness develop in the crease.
If the Andersen plan falls apart completely, the Oilers could be staring at a much tougher season than anyone expected.
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