There might be some concern over the recent news that Frederik Andersen, the Edmonton Oilers most recent goaltending acquisition, is not going to be ready for the beginning of the 2026-27 National Hockey League season. Those worries are understandable, because there's a significant body of evidence that suggests Tristan Jarry won't be up to the task. Andersen is pencilled in as, at worst, a co-starter as the Oilers work towards potentially capturing the Stanley Cup this coming spring.
But in many ways, this injury news could turn out to a be a positive. The Oilers were intending to run with three goaltenders on their NHL roster. That causes rotation issues and almost always leads to headlines about one goalie or another's unhappiness with playing time, practice time or some other effect of the overly crowded crease. With Edmonton starting the year with two, Jarry will split duties with the other newcomer to the Oilers, Devon Levi.
An opportunity for Levi to take the reigns
Levi has to be excited about the opportunity that has suddenly presented itself to him. Andersen will come back into the picture at some point in the first half of the season. He'll be subjected to a lighter overall workload and hopefully that will mean he's fresh and healthy for a playoff run. Meanwhile Levi is guaranteed to see a number of starts in the first month of the season. The Oilers play 13 games prior to Halloween, and Levi can pencil himself into at least seven of them.
Given last season's performance, Jarry will have a short leash, even with new head coach Mike Babcock. The flaws in his game were glaring in 2025-26 and while we can hope a full offseason of practice and training will have him more ready to go, I don't see a scenario where he's allowed to lose more than a single game without his goaltending partner being handed the net. If Levi can string wins together, he could easily be considered the number one guy until Andersen is fully back on the ice.
The three-headed goalie monster will present itself at some point. When that happens, Andersen will surely be given an opportunity to be "the" guy in the Oilers net. Things will shake out over the balance of the season and one of the three will either be in the minors, lost on waivers, or traded away. My Game 84 money is on Andersen as the starter, Levi backing him up, and Jarry wearing either a Bakersfield jersey, or colors other than orange and blue.
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