Many fans and pundits alike felt that the Edmonton Oilers biggest goal this offseason ought to be to address their goaltending situation. Given his success so far this summer, many would have expected more from general manager Stan Bowman.
So far, the Oilers have done nothing, at the NHL level at least. The club added prospect Daniel Salonen at the 2025 NHL Draft and signed depth goalie Matt Tomkins, allowing prospect Olivier Rodrigue to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA).
On the coaching side, the club let longtime goaltending coach Dustin Schwartz leave the organization and hired David Aubry as his replacement. Aside from this, both Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard are projecting to split their crease for the Oilers this upcoming year.
Is this enough? It depends on who you ask but the club likely should have done something different from a personnel perspective.
Weak goaltending market lets Oilers off the hook
One of the biggest arguments in favor of the Oilers standing pat is that the goaltending market was weak this year. So weak in fact that future Hall of Fame goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury was reportedly getting offers to delay his retirement one more year.
The trade market was not much better with most of the goalie trades being made so far were for unproven or overpaid puck stoppers needing a change of scenery.
Should the Oilers have gone for these types of moves? Well, given they have only a few hundred thousand dollars in cap room according to Puckpedia.com, probably not. At least not for the players with high cap hits.
Florida Panthers acquire: Daniil Tarasov
Columbus Blue Jackets acquire: Fifth Round Pick (2025)
Pittsburgh Penguins acquire: Arturs Silovs
Vancouver Canucks acquire: Chase Stillman, Fourth Round pick (2027)
Carolina Hurricanes acquire: Cayden Primeau
Montreal Canadiens acquire: Seventh Round pick (2026)
You can make the argument that the team should have done more to go after one of these buy-low targets but as much as people can pound their fists on the table and demand change, it is hard to guarantee that either of these three will be the answer.
Cayden Primeau looked to be nearing the starting job with the Canadiens and has 55 games of NHL experience under his belt but has been up and down. This year he found himself back in the AHL after posting an abysmal .836 save percentage with a 2-3-1 record in 11 games, which is likely why he went for a Seventh Rounder.
Daniil Tarasov is a highly regarded 26 year old Russian netminder who has played 65 games with the Blue Jackets, posting a 19-34-6 record with a .898 save percentage. Most recently, he sported an .881 through 20 games this past season.
Arturs Silovs is 24 years old and the one that many see as the most promising of the three, he has played only 19 regular season games with an .880 and 8-8-2 statline. However, he looked very intriguing during the 2024 NHL playoffs, dressing for 10 games with a 5-5-0 and a .898 record. He also has racked up accolades in the AHL this past year with a Calder Cup ring and winning playoff MVP honors.
These are all well and good but do not directly translate to NHL success, especially for a team pushing to make the Stanley Cup Finals for a third straight season. All three have shown elements of risk with up and down play. However, the cost of acquisition and their cost against the cap is minimal, which could have been worth it, especially if they are able to turn their play around.
As well, the free agency market had a few of these low-risk signings available. This was mainly made up of players who had fallen from grace in recent seasons, who signed for league minimum or close to it. Some examples of this were; Cal Peterson, Vitek Vanecek, Kaapo Kahkonen, and Matt Murray.
These goalies were all either highly regarded, sometimes starters or tandem goalies whose play fell off and forced them to take a short-term deal with a low annual average value (AAV) to prove themselves. Three of these four signings were below the NHL burial limit, allowing their club to send them down to the AHL at no cost against their team’s salary cap, effectively “burying” their contract.
In free agency, the Oilers went with hometown boy Matt Tomkins, who is 31 years old with a total of six NHL games played, all with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2023-24 where he sported a .892 save percentage.
Buy low free agent options left
This sort of signing makes the most sense to me, it would have allowed the club to add a potential NHL-calibre goalie for essentially nothing. There are a few players who fit this bill still available on the open market; Alexander Georgiev and Ilya Samsonov. At this stage of the offseason, they could be looking to sign a professional try-out (PTO) deal heading into training camp.
Over the past three seasons combined, Samsonov and Georgiev rank 40th and 43rd in terms of save percentage with .901 and .899 amongst all goalies who played a minimum of 50 games (NHL.com). Stuart Skinner ranks 25th and Calvin Pickard ranks 32nd in the same category with a .906 and .903. Comparing those four in terms of goals saved above expected (GSAx), Skinner is top with 38.47 GSAx, Samsonov is second at 17.1 , while Georgiev and Pickard trail at 5.36 and -2.59, respectively.
Using these metrics, I think Samsonov makes the most sense for a tryout but Georgiev has shown capable of being a reliable goalie in the past too. He rose to prominence for his play as a backup with the New York Rangers and in his first season as a starter with Colorado Avalanche posting a .919 save percentage and 17.29 GSAx through 62 games. Since then, his play fell and after posting an .875 save percentage through 49 games with the Avs and San Jose Sharks this season.
This may be the Oilers best bet if they are unable to secure a more reliable puckstopper, again the cost of acquisition is low enough that the club can give them a fair shake. As well, signing one of them to a PTO would allow the team to see how they do, give them an exhibition game or two and proceed according to their play.
This is part of what makes goaltending evaluations hard because there is so many factors outside of the goalie's control that makes it hard to project year to year. At this stage, it does not seem like the team dropped the ball by not addressing the goaltenders but Bowman and Co. -- who have wasted no time this summer -- should still attempt to do something between the pipes, even if it is just signing a league minimum guy to play a third string role.