MAF wants to play another year in the league, if EDM trades for him I have to think that second year is something they target.

Agreed. So that plays into cost?

MAF has publicly stated that he wants to A.) play for a contending team and B.) extend to which ever team he gets traded to (also open to CHI extension) because he doesn't want to move his family. So, he most certainly WON'T entertain a rental. He's going to want to extend in EDM if he gets traded there. WHICH, imo is the best option because that will help develop Skinner over time rather than tossing him into the fire.

I feel like you are basing you opinion of Allen on his and the teams play before the coaching change. Would you have even believed for a second that Montembeault was capable of playing lights out hockey before the change? I wouldn't have and I would have waived him long ago if ot weren't for us needing a goalie. Now I wouldn't trade him for anything less than a 2nd or 3rd and even that is debatable depending on how Allen plays behind the rejuvenated team. We potentially have a Star starter (Price) a good NHL tandem 1B (Allen) and a very good NHL backup (Montembeault). Even if we do trade Allen our goalie depth would not be depleted. Allen is due back before the TDL so we will see how many games he gets in and if his play also has picked up.

Being realistic let’s narrow the list by
1- remove anyone with clauses that has only played in the states history unfortunately strongly suggests those are in place to prevent a move to Canadian city.
2- remove anyone with term because let’s face it smith is here till his deal expires and skinner must be on the team next year.
3- remove anyone that is unlikely to be moved because playing a big role for playoff team looking at husso there.
When go threw this process think it becomes clear the pool is much shallower than most suggest when saying oilers need to do something in net. There isn’t any clear “upgrade” I’d say smith and skinner provides the most realistic and best tandem down the stretch if kosk gets moved to facilitate a trade to bolster the d or depth scoring.

TBH I think you essentially agreed with everything I said. Haha. His numbers are bad because of how bad MTL has been. But he also isnt a legit starter. thats Price.

EDIT** To answer your original question though, I think Allen can be had for a 2nd or similar valued RHD or LW prospect.

My bad I thought you were saying that Allen was just bad and not worth the upgrade because of his play earlier in the year.

I guess my thinking is this. You are right on all accounts, however, there is always a price to which these things can change. Like. Say Husso for example. At a certain point, if the offer is good enough, STL still makes that trade.

As for the NMC American stuff, Canada's restrictions for Covid are all starting to lift now, so I feel like players may soften their stances on that. As well as, McDavid factor may sway some people to a degree as far as the Oilers being a potential contender. Last night against the Lightning be a prime example of, if the Oilers had the goaltending, the beat one of the NHL's elite...

I agree to some extent. I’m not sure restrictions suppose to be loosening up is enough for someone with a family to come North we seen this happen a few times in Canada they loosen till icu units get filled up then restrictions are back in place. That’s a tough gamble for a guy with a family to be making mid season when it’s uncertain they can all pick up and go kids might have school to finish wives might have side jobs every family has different situations that can play huge factor not to mention the clause issue dates farther back than covid it’s basically the reason why clauses became a thing in the first place. Maybe the mcdavid effect plays a part but be much smaller factor than personal lives.
With husso how much will it take to pry him from the blues right now? Not to mention that’s kinda a slap in skinner face seeing as pushing skinner down for a guy that also has very limited nhl experience if going in that direction it’s gotta be skinner he’s earned it with this organization and done everything expected of.

If an extension was worked out immediately maybe? I’m not going to think about it to hard.

I know there's a lot of talk about Varlamov not wanting to waive for a trip to Edmonton, but I also think you might be able to convince him to go by playing to his ego a little bit. He's clearly the #2 on the Island now, no more 1A/1B with Sorokin. If you feel like Sorokin is ready to move on from his security blanket (remember, part of the reason to let Lehner walk & sign Varlamov was the Russian connection with Sorokin), you can try to convince Varly that he'll be a starter on a playoff contender and then get the chance to be a goalie mentor to Skinner next year, something that might enhance his late career value when he goes UFA after 2022-23.

Isles can take back Mike Smith if the pick/prospect part of the deal is sweet enough, and just plug him in as Sorokin's backup next year instead of signing a UFA guy this summer. Like you said, lots of moving parts, but I'd say it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.