Despite the poor start for the Edmonton Oilers and particularly their goaltending tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, their fortunes seem to have flipped around. Last month the Oilers moved on from their homegrown starting goalie Skinner in a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, acquiring goaltender Tristan Jarry, who has been out with an injury since December 18th.
In the very near future, their new goaltender is slated to return which could cause issues for the Oilers. As of right now, they have the veteran Pickard and Connor Ingram sharing the crease which has caused a bit of a goalie controversy in Edmonton. Although Pickard is incredibly popular in the locker room, Ingram has certainly outplayed the 33 year old since Jarry was sidelined.
This was perfectly encapsulated by Ingram's performance against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday where he shut the door, stopping 29 of 30 shots for the 4-1 victory. This improves his record on the year to 4-2-1 in seven starts with a save percentage of .900 or better in six of his seven games. On the year, Pickard has a .871 save percentage in 13 games and has played four games in this recent stretch with a 2-2-0 record and three of his four games are all below .900.
There is no debate, Ingram has simply played better and the Oilers should roll with a Jarry-Ingram tandem. Even despite the issues this may cause within the Oilers room, the team has Stanley Cup aspirations and needs to put their results first.
Oilers re-sign prospect
The Oilers announced on Monday they had re-signed prospect Quinn Hutson to a two-year contract, worth $875,000 per season. The 23 year old has been a standout with the Bakersfield Condors this season and is deserving of a long look in the organization.
The low cap hit makes him more desirable for the Oilers to use as their payroll gets squeezed more and more in the future. It also allows for the club to extract some much needed surplus value out of cheap depth contracts.
NHL News
2026 NHL Draft host
The 2026 NHL Draft host city has been revealed as Buffalo, New York is slated to host the draft later this year in June. Last year in 2025, the NHL switched to a 'decentralized' format where the event is hosted in one location with Gary Bettman, media, players, and fans while each NHL club operates out of their own separate location.
The last time that the NHL Draft was held in Buffalo was the 2016 NHL Draft where the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Auston Matthews with the first overall pick.
NHL Central Scouting releases midterm rankings
The NHL Central Scouting bureau has released their 2026 NHL Draft midterm rankings. The categories are split by regions; with North American rankings and International rankings. From there, the lists are split by skaters and goaltenders for their respective regions.
The CS rankings are always a big topic of conversation and this time is no different as the bureau went with Gavin McKenna for their top ranked North American skater as many are questioning his legitimacy as a first overall pick candidate.
Blue Jackets first team to fire head coach this season
Despite a great season last year with the Columbus Blue Jackets, head coach Dean Evason was not safe and became the first NHL bench boss to be fired this season after a 19-19-7 record this season.
The club's general manager Don Waddell announced they were replacing him with now formerly retired coach Rick Bowness. The Blue Jackets lured the man who holds the record for highest number of games behind an NHL bench with 2,726 games.