Oilers Goalie Upgrade Unlikely But Not An 'Absolute No'
Stuart Skinner & Calvin Pickard (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)EDMONTON – What must a team do to get some good goaltending?
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.
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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.
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.”
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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.
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