Remember what I said about the Edmonton Oilers' goaltending in my piece about the Devon Levi trade?
Yeah, I take some of what I said back.
The Oilers' acquisition of goaltender Frederik Andersen, who recently helped earn the Carolina Hurricanes their first Stanley Cup title since 2006, helps the team to reinforce their goaltending depth and to not rely on solely Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi in what is a make-or-break season.
After all, Andersen was able to record a .910 save percentage, a 1.89 goals against average, and a record of 13-2 during the 2026 postseason. When one removes the three Stanley Cup Final games that Andersen contested, one gets a 12-1 record (he started Game 3, but the final decision was not attributed to him), a .931 save percentage, and a 1.51 goals against average.
If Andersen replicates that form for the Oilers, he'll easily be the best goaltender that they have had in some time.
But I will stand by the fact that the Oilers only pushed the big goaltending decisions one year down the road. Andersen is only signed for the upcoming campaign, and the Oilers will still be left with just Jarry should they be unable to bring Levi or Andersen back for the 2027-28 season.
Though term has, among other things, not necessarily been the greatest concern for the Oilers in recent times, they can't keep getting themselves stuck answering the same questions every single offseason. The goaltending was a major question after their second consecutive loss in the Stanley Cup Final, and the Oilers will more than likely be focusing on keeping Connor McDavid in town when the next offseason rolls around.
How does this set up the Oilers' goaltending deployment for the upcoming season?
The acquisition of Andersen actually helps the Oilers quite significantly.
Outside of his numbers from the last postseason, Andersen provides significant playoff experience that neither Jarry nor Levi have. That could come in handy if the Oilers are able to get back to the later rounds of the playoffs; doing so would give them the opportunity to potentially use Andersen in situations where the Oilers are one of the final four or eight teams left standing.
It also gives the team the chance to rotate the goaltending throughout the season, something that is especially true when considering that the regular season is set to expand to 84 games this year. For example, the Oilers could have two straight back-to-backs to start the season and decide to run with a tandem of Andersen and Jarry. Then, for a lighter late-October stretch, the team could opt to give Levi a chance to shine in the main tandem alongside whoever performs better between Levi and Andersen.
Such flexibility doesn't have to be dependent on the schedule; the Oilers could also rotate the three goaltenders depending on the situation seen in the standings, injuries, or even hot/cold streaks.
Even though the Oilers are still locked into another impending goaltending issue, they did well to answer such questions in the present. But how the likes of Andersen fare this season will dictate the team's approach ahead of a crucial offseason in 2027.
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