Tristan Jarry returns to an Edmonton market that looks to get to a third-straight Cup final appearance. But for a team that's searched for stable goaltending for years, is it difficult to play there?
Not many storylines surrounding the Edmonton Oilers get more attention than the goaltending situation.
Last Friday, the Oilers made a drastic goaltending change by trading Stuart Skinner to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a package for Tristan Jarry.
Edmonton has searched for stable goaltending for much of the past decade, if not longer, raising questions about whether it's especially difficult to play in Edmonton.
When it looks like they've found their answer in net – Devan Dubnyk, Ben Scrivens, Cam Talbot, Mikko Koskinen, Mike Smith, Jack Campbell and Skinner – a season comes along when their stats drop, or they run into injury issues, and the questions arise again.
Even the backup goalies have been on a carousel, featuring Ilya Bryzgalov, Viktor Fasth, Anders Nilsson, Laurent Brossoit and Pickard.
Since 2014-15, the Oilers have had seven netminders play at least 30 games in a season. The team that beat them in the last two Stanley Cup finals, the Florida Panthers, have only had four in that span. And Florida's state rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning, has only had Andrei Vasilevskiy and Ben Bishop play at least 30 games in a season.
Skinner is the latest goalie to leave Edmonton, being put under the spotlight even when the defense wasn't doing him many favors at times.
"When things weren't going well in Edmonton, there's not really a place you can go that's worse defensively," Dubnyk said in Monday's episode of The Hockey News Big Show. "Pittsburgh is not a shutdown team by any means. But there's nothing they can't throw at him that he hasn't seen at some point there."
Dubnyk also discussed the emotions of leaving Edmonton.
"There's always pressure going to a new team, of course, you want to go and play well… but I'm sure he's disappointed leaving Edmonton," Dubnyk said. "It doesn't matter leaving all that pressure. It was the same thing for me. It was crazy every day how much hate there was, but you're still sad a little bit when it happens."
So, with a fan base that demands success in a heavy media market with numerous opinions, is it a hard city to play in?
It's a mixed bag from players past and present, but for Tristan Jarry, someone who played for the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings and maintains an off-season home in the area, he'll be ready for the city.
Watch Avry Lewis-McDougall's video column up above for more.
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