The Oilers spent the offseason trying to clean up the mess in net, and Devon Levi is right in the middle of that reset.
Edmonton brought him in from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2028 third-round pick, then added Frederik Andersen in free agency and kept Tristan Jarry on the roster. That means the crease looks nothing like it did a year ago, when Stuart Skinner, Calvin Pickard, and Connor Ingram were handling the load. Now the Oilers are hoping one of three newcomers can settle the position down, and Levi is the youngest of the bunch with the most to prove.
Last season, Levi played for the Rochester Americans in the AHL and put up a .904 save percentage and a 2.83 goals-against average, along with three shutouts in 52 games. That was the most games he has ever played in a pro season.
At the NHL level, he’s still something of a mystery. He has appeared in 39 career games, none since Jan. 20, 2025, and his overall NHL numbers sit at a 3.29 GAA and a .894 save percentage.
His most recent stretch in the league was rough, too: in 2024-25, he had a 4.12 GAA and an .872 save percentage over nine games.
Even with that baggage, Levi is only 24, and Edmonton is clearly betting there’s still a better version of him waiting to surface.
The opening months of the season could tell the story quickly. Andersen has been ruled out with injury for most of October, so Levi and Jarry are the two goaltenders in position to carry the load at the start.
That sets up a real chance for Levi to grab hold of the job if Jarry is uneven. But the flip side is just as clear: if Jarry is steady and Levi doesn’t seize the moment, he could slide into the third-goalie role once Andersen is healthy.
That’s the danger for Levi. Because he is waiver-eligible, Edmonton can’t simply tuck him in the minors without risking losing him.
If he’s not getting starts, he may end up sitting in the press box far too often. For a goalie who still needs reps and development, that would be a bad outcome.
In an 84-game season, fewer than 20 appearances would be a letdown. And when he does play, the bar has to be higher than just surviving.
Anything below a .885 save percentage would be ugly. Edmonton has lived with shaky goaltending for years, and Levi has a chance to help change that.
If he falls flat, the frustration only grows.
The upside is obvious, though. If Levi comes in and takes the job, the Oilers would gladly run with him.
More than 40 starts and a save percentage of .905 or better would be the kind of season that forces everyone to pay attention. Edmonton doesn’t need a superstar in goal so much as a reliable one, because the offense can carry plenty of weight on its own.
The bigger issue has been that the Oilers too often have needed five goals just to feel safe, and that isn’t a formula anyone can trust for long. Levi doesn’t have to be perfect.
He just has to be steady enough to give them a real chance more nights than not. A 2.50 GAA would put the team in a strong spot, especially when stacked against what Edmonton has been dealing with.
There’s also a reason to believe the style could fit. Levi stands 6-foot and weighs 192 pounds, but he’s athletic, moves well side to side, and can handle cross-seam passes, reads, and traffic in front.
That lateral movement matters, because it was one of the biggest complaints about Skinner and a big reason the fan base turned on him. If Levi handles that part of the job, he’s already helping solve one of Edmonton’s most persistent problems.
The other layer here is age and opportunity. Andersen is 36 and on a one-year deal.
Jarry is 31 and has two years left. Levi is the one the organization appears to be circling as the future between the pipes, and this season is his first real chance to make that idea look sensible.
So the question isn’t just whether Levi can help the Oilers right away. It’s whether he can become the guy in Edmonton for more than a short stretch. The door is open, the competition is there, and the first month could matter a lot.
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Devon Levi is now in the picture, and Frederik Andersen has also joined the roster, giving Edmonton a deeper but more crowded competition for the crease. That makes Jarrys start to the 2026-27 season especially important, because his early performance may go a long way toward determining whether he can still carve out a meaningful role with the Oilers. [Read more 🡒]