Admittedly, when the Edmonton Oilers acquired netminder Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins last fall, I believed the biggest question was durability. It wasn't certain that Jarry was a massive upgrade on Stuart Skinner's ability in the crease, but we'd seen the Skinner Postseason show enough times to know that he bent and/or broke under pressure, and assuming that Jarry was of comparable skill, the key would be keeping the oft-injured goaltender healthy.
Fast forward to the 2026 offseason and we are considerably more enlightened. One can theorize that hockey legend Sidney Crosby's extended absence from the National Hockey League playoffs these past few years was closely tied to Jarry's level of performance. The Penguins pulled a fast one on the Oilers, forcing Edmonton to add pieces to a deal that saw the best netminder headed to Pittsburgh. Hopefully Stan Bowman learned his lesson there.
What about next year?
Jarry started the season in Pittsburgh somewhat hot. That gave him the above .900 save percentage that caught the Oiler GM's eye, and even a deeper dive suggested that his ability to stop high danger chances was a differentiator. But whether due to coaching, relative skill in the defensive corps, or simply being unfamiliar with his new surroundings in Edmonton, Jarry immediately got terrible upon arrival.
He performed worse than most of the backup goaltenders in the league. The High Danger goals against statistic collapsed, and Jarry ended the year with 43 HD goals against. He was below the league average in save percentage for shots from anywhere on the ice. Point shots, net front, faceoff dot? It didn't matter where, Jarry was open for business. These aren't statistics that an offseason of focus and rededication, or a new coaching scheme, are likely to correct. These are the stats of an average goaltender who is now in a steep decline.
Jarry is signed through to the end of this year, but he cannot realistically be asked to fill a backup role. Sending him to the minors still leaves a $4.25 million cap hit on the NHL budget. He represents yet another Bowman mistake that needs to be rectified, but he's a zero value asset. The Oilers are still paying Jack Campbell due to the previous administration's inability to accurately assess goaltending ability and Bowman is going to have to find a way to get Jarry off his payroll.
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