Finishing our series reviewing how the Edmonton Oilers performed this season from a positional standpoint, we are looking at the Oilers goaltending and how they performed during the 2025-26 NHL season.
We have recapped the Oilers forwards this past season along with how the Oilers defencemen performed. Now, we go to the area of the club that most agree is the most problematic.
The Oilers entered the 2025-26 season with the tandem of homegrown goalie, Stuart Skinner and veteran backstopper, Calvin Pickard. Together, they had helped the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals appearances but by many fans accounts, were a large part of the club hitting their glass ceiling.
After multiple months of arguably league worst goaltending and being outside of a playoff spot after the quarter mark, the Oilers made a major shakeup. The club acquired goaltender Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending Skinner and defenceman Brett Kulak the other way.
It was a rocky road for Jarry this past season with the Oilers, being sidelined with an injury after only a few games with his new team. This also made room for the team to call-up their preseason insurance marker acquisition, Connor Ingram.
Calvin Pickard
Pickard entered the season as part of the Oilers goaltending tandem, set to share the crease with Skinner after back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals defeats. This did not work out for aforementioned reasons and caused the Oilers to pivot in December, acquiring Jarry.
Pickard has given the Oilers plenty of value as a good locker room presence with some truly quality netminding in both the regular season and playoffs. He was a dependable backup but this past season was one of the worst of his career, posting a 5-6-2 record and a 3.68 goals against average and .871 save percentage.
Tristan Jarry
Acquired part way through the season, Jarry had an up-and-down start to his Oilers tenure, looking relatively solid to start before being put out of the lineup for a month with an injury. He came back and was inconsistent to say the least, eventually losing the crease and the trust of the Oilers' coaching staff almost completely down the stretch.
As an OIlers, the 30 year old goalie finished the season with a 9-6-2 record and a 3.86 GAA and .857 save percentage. Now, Jarry seems like a legitimate albatross contract and leaves the Oilers brass with quite the conundrum to figure out this summer.
Connor Ingram
Ingram was the Oilers' unlikely hero between the pipes as when he was called up, he left the American Hockey League's Bakersfield Condors as one of the worst minor league goaltenders, carrying an .856 save percentage.
He came up to the Oilers and within a month had all but secured the reins as the club's starting goalie. He finished the season with a 16-10-3 record and a 2.60 GAA and .899 save percentage, finishing the year as the Oilers top goalie.
He is set to become an unrestricted free agent and the 29 year old could surely command a legitimate offer from a number of NHL clubs looking to solidify their crease.
The state of Oilers goaltending
Taking the Oilers goaltenders performance into consideration, here is how they grade out this season.
Connor Ingram: C
Tristan Jarry: D
Calvin Pickard: D-
The Oilers goaltenders were not good as a group this season. Despite modest corsi against and expected goals against numbers ranking in the top of the league, the Oilers ranked 25th in terms of raw goals against with 269. They also ranked 28th in terms of save percentage with an abysmal .878 save percentage.
To make matters worse, it is not expected to get better. Their top goaltender, Ingram is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Jarry poses the opposite problem, carrying an albatross contract worth $5.375 million for the next two seasons. It has been hinted that Jarry's presence on the Oilers payroll could keep the club from spending on an Ingram extension.
There are some prospects coming up in the system like Connor Ungar or Samuel Jonsson that have shown positive growth in the minor leagues but there is no evidence to suggest that they are NHL ready immediately.
It will be an interesting position to watch this offseason as the Oilers have plenty of decisions to make between the pipes.
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