Goaltending has been the main topic of conversation surrounding the Edmonton Oilers going back multiple seasons now and this past summer, it hit a fever pitch.
Now, as we are quarter way through the 2025-26 season, it is clear why. Both Oilers goaltenders; Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard are holding save percentages below .890 and have struggled mightily to keep the puck out of their net.
It is not helped by the Oilers seeming inability to produce and generate offence. It is a double-edged sword and if they can improve their goaltending, it could give the team the confidence to be more creative on the offensive end.
Oilers rumoured goalie target
Given all of this, there have been many goalies that have been rumoured to be available and the Oilers have been speculated to be in on. This past summer, a long rumoured goalie was finally traded as the Anaheim Ducks dealt John Gibson to the Detroit Red Wings.
In the deal, the Red Wings were able to dump goaltender Petr Mrazek, clearing up $4.25 million so they could absorb the entire $6.4 million from Gibson's contract (puckpedia.com). They also paid a minimal cost aside from that, trading a fourth and second round draft picks.
The low price tag and Gibson carrying the label of an 'elite' goalie for years made fans and media tie him and the Oilers together. Plenty of fans were upset when the Oilers lost out but in hindsight, it may have been a blessing in disguise.
Despite his label, Gibson has not been an elite goalie in the NHL for much of his career. He mostly benefitted from being good and being on a good team early in his career and then being bad and on a basement dweller for years later.
Stan Bowman dodged a bullet by not acquiring John Gibson
So far in 11 games for the Red Wings, Gibson has a 4-5-1 record and a 3.32 goals against average and a .875 save percentage. He seems to be losing the crease to teammate Cam Talbot who has been outshining him so far.
Not to mention, the advanced stats do not paint a nicer picture with him ranking 45th amongst goalies in terms of goals saved above expected (according to evolving-hockey.com) Using moneypuck.com and their model, Gibson sits 27th of all 34 goalies who have played 10 or more games this season in GSAx.
It seems like the Oilers and general manager Stan Bowman may have dodged a bullet. Had they traded for him, they would have paid assets and had possibly less cap space to work with for similar or worse performance than they are currently getting out of Skinner and Pickard.
Sometimes, NHL executives deserve to be credited with the moves they did not make more than the one they did. He took a lot of flack for holding steady but in the case of Bowman, this seems to be the case when it comes to Gibson this summer.