Edmonton's goalie situation is in such a bad/weird state. Mikko Koskinen? Not good. Mike Smith? Not young, or all that healthy. Stuart Skinner? Apparently not ready. And the biggest problem is that, next year, Skinner is waiver-eligible and will need to stay on the roster, and Mike Smith has another year left on his contract. How can we avoid wasting another year of Connor & Leon's primes?
First, make the move to upgrade your #1 goalie this year (and most likely 1A next year), and get Semyon Varlamov from the Islanders, for the generally accepted value of Mikko Koskinen and a 1st.
Now, what do with Mike Smith? Gotta find somewhere to dump him, and I can't think of any better place to dump a goalie with health issues than Buffalo. He can tandem up with Craig Anderson the rest of the way this year (I don't think the Sabres should be worried about losing Dustin Tokarski through waivers) and next year Smith can mentor Buffalo's young goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. To sweeten the trade, you send Kailer Yamamoto out with him - KY seems to just not be clicking in Edmonton, so a change of scenery might help him unlock his potential. If you really need to convince Buffalo to take that Mike Smith contract, you can always throw in a conditional pick to give them backup in case Yamamoto doesn't work out there and they let him walk. For the sake of Edmonton's return, the role of "Brendan Davidson" could also be played by the nebulous "Future Considerations" - I just included Davidson as a potential 7th D if Edmonton wants him for whatever playoff run they might be making.
So, long story short, Edmonton sends out Koskinen, Smith, a #1, and Yamamoto/#2, and gets back Varlamov, cap room, and whatever depth player they want from Buffalo, and they are set in goal the rest of this year & next. Thoughts?
If they decide he doesn't work for them and they don't qualify him, I should've been clearer in where I was going with that. He's an RFA this season so you basically give Buffalo a month+ to audition him and give them that backup if they hate the fit and let him walk.
I would take that deal to Detroit for Smith. We are going to need a back up next season and I would take a chance on Yamamoto.
I thought about Detroit too, but just love the idea of teaming up 39-year-old Mike Smith with 40-year-old Craig Anderson the rest of the year with Buffalo. Smith is still playable enough with that $2.2M hit that I think a lot of teams could find a backup slot for him.