The Edmonton Oilers are headed into the 2026-27 season with three goaltenders and, more importantly, no clear No. 1.
That’s not usually a luxury. It’s a warning sign.
Tristan Jarry, Frederik Anderson and Devon Levi will each get a shot to claim the crease, but the setup says plenty about where things stand. The Oilers are hoping one of them can separate from the pack and seize the bulk of the starts, while the other two settle into backup roles.
Jarry’s time last season was rocky almost from the start. Injuries interrupted his year, and when he was on the ice, he often looked overmatched. He lost the starting job to Connor Ingram, took aim at the defense in front of him, and put up some ugly numbers in an Oilers sweater.
Anderson’s path was stranger. He struggled through the regular season, then found his game at exactly the right time and carried the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Final. Then came another setback: a knee injury that forced him to watch his team finish off the championship run from the sideline.
Levi may be the longest shot of the trio, but he also feels like the one with the most room to grow into a long-term answer. He’s been waiting for a real chance to prove he belongs in the NHL, and he should get more goal support than he had with the Buffalo Sabres.
For the Oilers, though, the bigger story is not just who wins the job. It’s whether someone can give them the kind of steady goaltending that turns a dangerous offense into a team that can actually close the deal.
That’s where goal differential comes in. Over the last three seasons, it has told the clearest story about Edmonton’s rise and its letdowns.
The 2024 team, which came within a game of winning the Cup, was tilting the ice by scoring and preventing goals. The next year, the gap narrowed and the Oilers weren’t a match for the Florida Panthers.
Last season, the defense and goaltending bled goals, and even a top-five scoring attack couldn’t save them.
The formula isn’t complicated. If Edmonton can keep opponents off the board and build late leads, it can avoid the chaos of overtime and shootouts, where one bounce can flip everything. Do that over 82 games, and the points add up, the playoff path gets cleaner, and the road to the Stanley Cup Final becomes a lot less punishing.
If one of these three goalies gets hot enough that head coach Mike Babcock has to keep riding him, that player could become the difference-maker Edmonton has been missing. For the Oilers, that might be the final piece.
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Oilers May Have Finally Found A Real Answer In Net
For years, Edmonton has been searching for a steady answer in goal, cycling through Cam Talbot, Mike Smith, Devan Dubnyk, Mikko Koskinen and Stuart Skinner with mixed results. So when the organization took another swing at the position this summer, it fit the long-running pattern of the Oilers trying to solve one of the most stubborn issues on the roster.
The name attached to the latest gamble is Devon Levi, a young goalie with a strong amateur and collegiate track record who arrives with plenty of intrigue around his upside. The questions follow him, too, and most of them center on whether his game can translate cleanly to the NHL level, where size concerns often shadow smaller netminders and leave Edmonton still waiting to see if this one finally sticks. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Still Have A Goalie Question Behind Linus Ullmark
Ottawas push to chase a third straight playoff berth in 2026-27 is going to hinge in large part on what happens behind Linus Ullmark. The veteran is back as the starter after a difficult prior season, and the Senators are counting on a steadier showing from their crease after leaning so heavily on goaltending last year.
Samuel Ersson, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs, is penciled in as the backup, but his NHL track record has left some room for doubt. That is why the clubs options in goal still feel a little open-ended, with another veteran name on the market giving the Senators something to weigh as they sort out who can best support Ullmark over the long haul. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Is About To Make Oilers History
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is on the verge of adding another milestone to a career that has already made him one of the defining Oilers of his era. The longtime forward sits among the franchise leaders in goals, assists and points, and his durability has been just as remarkable as his production over the years.
Now, with the season just getting underway, he is lined up to pass Kevin Lowe for the most games played in franchise history. Nugent-Hopkins is expected to tie the mark on Oct. 10 and move past it on Oct. 13 during an early-season road swing, a fitting next step for a player who has been at the center of Edmontons story for so long. [Read more 🡒]