The Edmonton Oilers are still searching for their rhythm as we hit the quarter mark of the 2025-26 NHL season, and the biggest issue staring them in the face has been the play in net. Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard haven’t provided the level of consistency the team needs.
The shaky starts have already put extra pressure on the rest of the roster. For a team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, below-average goaltending is a problem that can spiral quickly, and the Oilers are feeling that reality early.
If Edmonton wants to keep its championship window open, an upgrade between the pipes has to be near the top of their priority list. The market isn’t overflowing with available starters, but there are a few names that could make sense if the Oilers decide it’s time to act.
Whether it’s targeting a veteran rental on an expiring deal or taking a swing on a younger goalie with upside, Edmonton may need to explore every option. Here are a few potential goaltending trades the Oilers should consider as they look to stabilize the position.
Juuse Saros
If the Oilers start looking around the league for real help in goal, the Nashville Predators should be one of the first teams they call. The two clubs have a history of making in-season deals, so opening the conversation wouldn’t be difficult. Nashville is slipping again this year, and it feels like only a matter of time before they start breaking things down.
Juuse Saros would be a legitimate upgrade for Edmonton — the kind of goaltender who can change the entire outlook of a playoff run. The challenge, of course, is fitting his $7.74 million AAV into the Oilers’ tight cap picture (puckpedia.com). There has already been speculation about Saros and his fit with the Oilers.
For anything this significant, Edmonton would have to get creative. Skinner almost certainly goes the other way just to balance salary, and the Oilers would still need Nashville to retain roughly 30 percent of Saros’ contract. That doesn’t come cheap.
A package built around a prospect like Beau Akey, a first-round pick, and a roster player in the $2–3 million range might be the type of offer that at least gets the Predators listening. It’s a steep price, but if Edmonton truly believes they’re one piece away, this might be the swing that finally stabilizes their crease.
Jordan Binnington
The search continues for the Edmonton Oilers as they look to put an end to their goaltending problems, and one name that keeps coming up is Jordan Binnington. With the Oilers trying to stay in their Stanley Cup window, it’s no surprise they’re exploring every possible upgrade in net.
Binnington hasn’t been the same goalie who helped lead the Blues to a championship in 2019, but he’s shown flashes of that form and still carries the kind of big-game mentality the Oilers desperately need. When your season feels like it’s hanging on every missed save, you start looking at options you might not have considered a year ago.
Nick Kypreos: The strongest speculation ties Jordan Binnington to Edmonton; the Oilers are also seeing if they can get a defenceman out of St. Louis at the same time. That potential deal would most likely be built around Stuart Skinner going back to St. Louis - Sportsnet (11/25)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) November 25, 2025
The timing might also work in Edmonton’s favour. The St. Louis Blues look like a team ready to open the doors for business, especially when it comes to their veteran core. If they decide to shift toward a retool, Binnington becomes one of the more realistic trade chips.
His contract and streaky play complicate things, but for the Oilers, the question becomes simple: is the potential upgrade worth the risk? Goaltending has been the storyline holding them back early this season, and if they truly believe this roster can contend, standing still might not be an option anymore.
Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen
If the Oilers can’t find a way to upgrade from Stuart Skinner, then they absolutely need to upgrade the backup position—because the Calvin Pickard experiment has run its course. At some point, the excuses stop holding any weight.
Pickard has been flat-out unreliable this season, and while he had a brief stretch last year where he looked serviceable, that isn’t something a contending team can bank on long-term. Edmonton is in a spot where every point matters, and leaning on a goalie who hasn’t shown consistent NHL-caliber sharpness is a gamble they can’t afford to keep making.
One team that could help solve that problem is the Buffalo Sabres, a franchise that always feels like it’s stuck somewhere between rebuilding and resetting. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stands out as a realistic trade target and would bring far more stability to the Oilers’ crease.
He’s young, trending upward, and could form a legitimate 1A/1B tandem with Skinner—something Edmonton desperately needs if they want reliability night after night. Luukkonen wouldn’t solve every issue, but he’d give the Oilers a chance to breathe, compete, and avoid riding Skinner into the ground, which has clearly hurt the team in past seasons.
In the end, the Oilers can’t afford to let another season slip away because of shaky goaltending depth. Whether it’s making a bold move for a true starter or finding a younger, more reliable option to pair with Skinner, the front office has to act sooner rather than later. The Oilers could have partially fixed this issue had they not passed on a certain goalie a few seasons ago.
This team’s competitive window is still open, but it won’t stay that way forever, and stabilizing the crease is the most important step they can take to keep their Stanley Cup hopes alive.