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The Edmonton Oilers’ major priority may shift away from Dany Heatley and towards finding a No. 1 goalie now that Dwayne Roloson has left to sign a two-year contract with the New York Islanders. Edmonton didn’t want to go two years on a contract extension, fearing that if Roloson – as a player who’ll turn 40 in October – loses some of his edge, they would be stuck for both years of his contract., counting fully against their salary cap. It was a gamble the Oilers weren’t prepared to take.

Internally, they see Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers as a player who can play 20 to 25 games in the NHL next year, but they need someone else to play the majority of games.

Is Nikolai Khabibulin a fit for Edmonton? Or, if the Chicago Blackhawks want to move Cristobal Huet, would Edmonton take him, if the Blackhawks were to take, say, Dustin Penner’s contract, off their hands? The Ducks’ J.S. Giguere is also available, but he too as a no-trade clause in his contract.

At the end of the day, it may be that Edmonton takes the path of least resistance and, on a short-term basis, grabs either ex-Philly goalkeeper Martin Biron, or former Bruin Manny Fernandez as Roloson's replacement. Fernandez would be an interesting case because he established himself in the NHL for Edmonton's divisional rivals, the Minnesota Wild. Roloson, of course, was Fernandez's partner in Minnesota for years before Niklas Backstrom showed up and pushed them both out the door.

One final thought on Chicago's goaltending: They also re-signed a Finnish prospect Antti Niemi, to a contract extension last week, after he spent much of the year in the minors. Niemi likely wouldn't have returned if he hadn't been given some assurance that he would play more than the three games, and 141 minutes and 19 seconds of NHL playing time he received last year. Burying Huet in the minors would save them a bundle against the cap, although it would be a bold move to that, so soon after bringing him to Chicago last year.