The Edmonton Oilers took a more practical approach in goal this summer, spreading their bets instead of leaning too hard on one option. That meant adding Frederik Andersen, one of the NHL’s oldest goalies, and Devon Levi, one of its youngest, to give the team three usable options entering the 2026-27 season. It also looked like a cleaner setup than last year, when Stuart Skinner was the best hope to bounce back, Calvin Pickard didn’t have much ability to shoulder the load, and Connor Ingram remained a wildcard.
That change already appears to be paying off. With Andersen injured over the summer, Levi has stepped in.
The remaining question is Tristan Jarry, who has split his first two outings with one rough performance and one solid one. He is expected to start Saturday night in Utah.
There are reasons to think the environment could help him.
Jarry’s numbers have followed a familiar seasonal pattern throughout his NHL career. Over eight seasons, his save percentage has been .912 in October, .920 in November and .916 in December, according to StatsMuse.com. The second half tells a different story: .900 in January, .902 in February, .896 in March and .902 in April.
That kind of split makes it look as if there are two different versions of the same goalie - one who can look like a legitimate No. 1 early on, and another who struggles to stay above water later in the year.
The wear and tear may be part of the explanation. Jarry handled a heavy starter’s load in Pittsburgh for three straight seasons from 2021 to 2024, but his game fell off in 2024-25. He also dealt with injuries in recent seasons, and those setbacks lined up with poor stretches of play.
The quality-start numbers show the decline even more clearly. Jarry was above 60 per cent in quality starts in 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2023-24. That dropped to 49 per cent in 2024-25, then 48 per cent in 2025-26, and all the way down to 31 per cent in 19 games for Edmonton last year.
That’s not a small dip. It’s a warning sign, which is why the Oilers were smart to bring in Andersen and Levi.
Jarry is not the kind of goalie you want to be forced to ride every night. The bigger question is whether a lighter workload could keep him fresher and closer to the form that once gave him quality starts at a far more reliable clip.
Of course, none of this happens in a vacuum. Edmonton’s defensive play matters just as much as the names in net, maybe more. Last season, the Oilers were giving up 6.8 five-alarm shots per game, a jump from 5.8 per game in 2024-25 under Knoblauch.
This year, under Babcock, that number has dropped to 6.1 per game.
That matters because Babcock’s message is simple: reduce the chaos in front of the goalie. Make the game more predictable.
Let the goaltenders know where the chances are coming from. So far, the team has delivered some decent results on that front.
Steve Valiquette, CEO of Clear Sight Analytics, made the same point recently on the Real Kyper and Bourne show. He stressed that defending the rush is essential if the Oilers want their goalies to produce quality starts. Valiquette noted that last season Jarry and Jesper Wallstedt of the Minnesota Wild faced the same number of rush chances, but Wallstedt posted a .936 save percentage on those looks while Jarry managed only .871.
Part of that, Valiquette said, came down to the nature of the chances themselves. “The environment was considerably different. It was easier in Minnesota to play off the rush than it was in Edmonton.”
That distinction matters. A two-on-one that ends with a shot from the faceoff dot is one thing.
A two-on-one that becomes a cross-ice saucer pass and a one-timer is another level entirely. Edmonton gave up too many of those higher-danger rush looks last season, and that made life miserable for its goalies.
Valiquette also raised the question of how the Oilers would handle the rush this year with changes such as Darnell Nurse moving out and Ryan Shea moving in.
So far, Edmonton has done a better job limiting Grade A chances and five-alarm shots, though it’s still too early to say whether that edge will last. The club has shown stretches of disciplined hockey before, only to drift away from it later. But for now, the signs are better than they were a year ago.
And that gives Levi and Jarry a real chance to help.
The Oilers have already taken one important step by adding more credible options in goal. The bigger one is whether the team truly commits to championship-level defence. That’s the piece Valiquette keeps circling back to, and it may be the deciding factor for Levi, Andersen and Jarry this season.
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