Alex Stalock Looks To Make His Return

Goaltender Alex Stalock joined the Edmonton Oilers last season when he was claimed off the waiver wire from the Minnesota Wild. When the Oilers picked him up at the beginning of March, I thought it was nice pickup. A tiny cap hit and a goaltender that had nine years of backup duty in both San Jose and Minnesota, Stalock was a perfect pickup for the Oilers at the time. Edmonton had lost Anton Forsberg and Troy Grosenick to waivers in the weeks prior.

Though Stalock didn’t log any minutes for the Oilers in 2020-21, it was good to know that they had a backup under contract as the club headed into the offseason. That is, until September. That’s when it was announced that Stalock was likely to miss the entire season due to the heart condition myocarditis. Stalock developed the heart ailment after contracting Covid-19 in November of 2020, and wasn’t cleared until after the abbreviated 2021 season took flight. He did not pass his physical in September of 2021 and it was announced that he’d miss the entire season.

STEP ONE

Fast forward to today. Stalock was cleared by his doctors yesterday, and is looking to make a comeback. It’s a big first step for the veteran goaltender, who had a serviceable .910 SV% and 20 wins in his last season of play. His next step is to pass a team physical, after which he’d go on waivers. If all goes well, his next stop could be with the Condors after passing through waivers.

Stalock’s last game action was with the Minnesota Wild during the the play-in series of August of 2020, which is over 16 months ago.

If Stalock passes his physical, it will be easy to root for him as he attempts to come back from what could have been a potentially life-threatening condition. His story is one we’ll keep our eyes on.