EDMONTON – What must a team do to get some good goaltending?

NHL Highlights | Lightning vs. Oilers - February 25, 2025 Nikita Kucherov supplied a pair of assists to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a dominant 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers, extending their win streak to six ...

Edmonton Oilers fans are either up in arms about the state of the goaltending the team has gotten since returning from the 4 Nations break or are concerned about other issues plaguing the team.

Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss the latest news, game-day coverage, and more.

Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have been bad since returning. However, they haven’t been bad all season.

On Tuesday afternoon, Elliotte Friedman made an appearance on Oilers Now. During the segment where he was a guest, he talked a bit about the Oilers trade deadline plans.

Edmonton Oilers 2025 Trade Deadline Tracker EDMONTON – It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Specifically, he mentioned what he heard about the Oilers goaltending plans.

“There’s been a lot of stuff flying around about what they are thinking in goal,” Friedman stated. “The best information I have is: it’s unlikely they do anything there.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute no, but I’ve heard it’s unlikely they do anything in net.”

Related Oilers Stories

What Should The Oilers Do With Stuart Skinner? EDMONTON -- It's not all sunshine and rainbows. 

Oilers Trade Target Has Injury Setback

3 Edmonton Oilers Who Might Get Traded

Edmonton Oilers Trade Deadline Shopping List

Former Oilers Defender Slips Out Of NHL

Oilers Drop Fourth Straight With Poor Effort In Tampa We're into uncharted waters.

While some Oilers fans may react strongly to this information, there is a phrase that I would like to draw everyone’s attention to:

I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute no.

That is a very important detail to keep in mind. Just because Stan Bowman has said to the media that he’s not looking at goaltending does not mean that he isn’t looking at goaltending.

GMs do their due diligence, but it’s also wise to be strategic when it comes to media so that you don’t show your competitors the hand that you have.

In the 2024-25 season, the league average goals against average (GAA) and save percentage (SV%) are 2.79 and .901, respectively. 

Both Oilers goalies are in that ballpark. Skinner has a 2.84 GAA and a .898 SV%, while Pickard has a 2.69 GAA and an .896 SV%. Their SV% is virtually the same, with Skinner’s GAA a bit higher than average while Pickard’s is below.

But otherwise the results are, well, average.

So, while Friedman says that it’s not an absolute no, it’s easy to see that an upgrade in net wouldn’t hurt. But it has to be an upgrade and not a trade for the sake of a trade.

Add us to your Google News favorites, and never miss a story.