LaBarbera Off to Blackhawks

The Edmonton Oilers now have Ilya Bryzgalov manning the pipes, and because they have three goaltenders, they decided to ship one of them out.

They traded Jason LaBarbera to the Chicago Blackhawks for future considerations. LaBarbera will not be with the team, however, being assigned to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs. He became available after Brygalov returned from concussion-like symptoms. Meanwhile, in Chicago, Corey Crawford and Nikolai Khabibulin have injuries and two of their minor league goaltenders are up in the NHL covering for them.

LaBarbera has appeared in seven games with the Oilers this season, going 1-3-0 with a 3.28 GAA. Obviously, this trade was more important to the Blackhawks than to the Oilers. The Oilers needed to dump a goaltender because they already had him plus Brygalov and Devan Dubnyk. The reason the Blackhawks might need him is because their goaltenders are out and the minor league goaltenders might not last long in the NHL before being sent down. I think LaBarbera fits a short-team solution for the Blackhawks in goal. But it's like I said, short-term. Once they come back from injury, LaBarbera will likely be on the move. For the Blackhawks, it's a safety move. For the Oilers, it most likely means nothing.