Things have gone from bad to worse for goaltender Jack Campbell since his relegation to the American League (AHL) by the Edmonton Oilers last week.
The former Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender was positive about his first stint in the AHL since the 2018-2019 season and clearly wasn’t too worried about the future, although he admitted he was surprised by general manager Ken Holland’s decision.
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“There are certain aspects of my game that I need to continue to work on to get to the next level and that doesn’t change whether I’m here or in the National League,” he told reporters on Thursday. I just have to get to work.”
However, he still has a lot of work to do if he wants to get out of the swamp he finds himself in. In fact, in three games so far with the Bakersfield Condors, the Edmonton farm club, Campbell has allowed 13 goals on 72 shots. He has a goals-against average of 4.36 and an efficiency ratio of 0.819.
On Tuesday night, the 31-year-old took 26 shots and put the puck in his net five times in a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Wranglers. In particular, he gave up after 26 seconds of play from the first throw.
In the National Hockey League this season, Campbell has won just one of the five games he has played, averaging 4.50 goals per game and a save percentage of 0.873.
In the summer of 2022, he signed a five-year contract with the Oilers that paid him $25 million.