from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

It was the summer of 2022, and Ken Holland succumbed to the pressure.

His Edmonton Oilers had just suffered through the Mikko Koskinen years, and Mike Smith was ready to retire. Edmonton’s goaltending pipeline consisted of a rookie named Stuart Skinner, and nothing else of NHL pedigree.

The steward of Connor McDavid’s Stanley Cup future, Holland simply had to come back in September with a No. 1 goalie. He owed it to the sport, but at that moment in time, the pickings were slim.

Detroit had snapped up the untested Ville Husso and signed him to a three-year deal with an AAV of $4.75 million. Today, Husso awaits his first season with a save percentage exceeding .896 in Detroit.

The other viable option was the oft-injured Darcy Kuemper, who had rejected Edmonton’s overtures the previous summer. He took his talents to Washington, D.C.

So Holland and Campbell were the last two at the dance. Bedfellows by chance.

At that moment, the Oilers GM had two choices: Overpay and over-term a guy who had briefly found his game in Toronto — but had serious question marks regarding his mental game. Or walk away and temporarily solve his issues in the trade market.

Choose the latter and fail, and he would have been crushed by Oilers fans. They had suffered through the Three Metres of Koskinen, and borne nervous witness to the puck-handling foibles of an ageing Smith.

Now they wanted a true No. 1, and it was Holland’s job to provide. To those who much is given, the old saying goes, much is expected.

Holland jumped to his fatal mistake, choosing Campbell. And today, that chicken roosts on the National Hockey League’s waiver wire.

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