EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have made two trades to revamp their goaltending situation.
The Oilers dealt Devan Dubnyk to the Nashville Predators for forward Matt Hendricks, then acquired ex-Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens from the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick in the 2014 draft.
Dubnyk and Scrivens are each 27 and set to be unrestricted free agents following the season. The Oilers reportedly retained half of Dubnyk’s salary in the trade with Nashville.
Scrivens, who was traded last off-season from the Leafs to the Kings as part of the deal that sent Jonathan Bernier to Toronto, went 7-5-4 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in limited action this season.
Dubnyk was once considered the present and future in goal for Edmonton, and he went into the season as the starter.
Struggles early on led to the Oilers signing veteran free agent Ilya Bryzgalov to a one-year contract. In 32 games this season, the 27-year-old Dubnyk is 11-17-2 with a 3.36 goals-against average and .894 save percentage.
Bryzgalov and Scrivens could now split duties for the rest of the season.
Dubnyk is the second Oilers goalie traded this year. They sent Jason LaBarbera to the Chicago Blackhawks last month for future considerations.
Hendricks, 32, has two goals and two assists in 44 games this season. He signed a US$7.4-million, four-year deal with Nashville in the off-season.
Dubnyk enters an uncertain situation with the Predators, who are still without injured franchise goaltender Pekka Rinne. Marek Mazanec and Carter Hutton have split time in goal in Rinne’s absence.
The Predators have not given a time frame on when they expect Rinne, who has a salary-cap hit of US$7 million through the 2018-19 season, to return.