Frederik Andersen is already hurt for the Oilers, and this franchise has seen this movie before.
Edmonton Journal's David Staples laid out the pattern this week, and it's hard to argue with the history he's pointing to.
Andersen signed with Edmonton this summer and is currently day-to-day, expected out until at least October 20th.
That's a real, immediate example of exactly the kind of summer optimism Staples is warning fans not to trust blindly.
The cautionary tale he leans on hardest is Jack Campbell, signed by GM Ken Holland back on July 12, 2022, to widespread praise around the league.
Ken Holland called Campbell a guy "getting better all the time." Elliotte Friedman said he'd be motivated to prove Toronto wrong for letting him go.
None of it held up. Campbell was bought out after two painful seasons, still costing Edmonton real cap dollars years later.
Why this pattern matters again right now
Staples points to a long list beyond Campbell too, Milan Lucic, Kyle Turris, Jeff Skinner, Andrew Mangiapane, all celebrated signings that soured fast.
Even Carolina's approach gets held up as a contrast. This year's Stanley Cup champions mostly stood pat, parting only with the since-injured Andersen.
That's the same goaltender now sitting hurt in Edmonton, an ironic detail Staples doesn't have to work hard to point out.
Tristan Jarry currently holds the net in Andersen's absence, posting a .882 save percentage across 33 games last season.
Jarry doesn't need to be spectacular. He just needs to avoid the kind of collapse Campbell had in Edmonton, where his numbers cratered almost immediately.
Edmonton finished last season 41-30-11, 14th overall in the league, proof the core talent is real even when depth signings misfire.
New head coach Mike Babcock inherits this exact tension, a roster built to win now that still keeps making the same offseason bets.
Zach Hyman and Mike Smith are proof these bets can work out. Campbell and now potentially Andersen are proof they often don't.
Is Edmonton actually cursed on July signings, or just an easy target because its expectations are always this high?
Either way, the cheers of September are already getting tested, and the season hasn't even started yet.
Is the Frederik Andersen signing already shaping up to be another Oilers free-agent bust?
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