The Edmonton Oilers have already made their move in goal, and the next step may be the boldest one of all: keep all three of them.
After a busy opening day of free agency, Edmonton let Connor Ingram walk and brought in Devon Levi from the Buffalo Sabres, then added Frederik Andersen on the open market. That gives GM Stan Bowman a revamped group of Andersen, Levi and Tristan Jarry heading into training camp, and the Oilers now have enough cap room to make it work. They sit at just under $6 million in cap space with 11 forwards, eight defencemen and three goalies on the roster.
That flexibility matters because Edmonton still doesn’t have a true No. 1 workhorse in net. The cleanest path may be the one with the most moving parts: a three-goalie setup for the entire season.
Jarry and Andersen both come with injury baggage, which is exactly why the Oilers can’t treat this as a two-man race and hope for the best. Andersen has dealt with knee injuries and concussions, and he also went through a serious blood clot issue during the 2023-24 season.
Since 2021-22, his first year with the Carolina Hurricanes, he hasn’t played more than 35 games. If he gets hurt again, Edmonton would still have enough depth to survive.
Jarry’s case is a little different. He has had injury problems, but his inconsistency has been the bigger issue.
He missed a month with a lower-body injury after Edmonton acquired him last season, and when he came back, things went sideways fast. The Oilers needed another experienced goalie in the room because they couldn’t afford to let that situation sort itself out on its own.
There’s also no real sense in waiving him. Jarry carries a $5.375 million cap hit, and burying him in the minors would only save $1.15 million.
More importantly, moving him out would clog the path for younger goalies in the system. Keeping him with the big club makes more sense given where Edmonton is financially.
Levi brings a different kind of question mark. He’s only 24 and has just 39 NHL games on his resume.
His NHL numbers - a 3.29 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage - aren’t eye-catching, but his AHL work was much stronger: a 2.52 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 120 games. He looks ready to become a full-time NHL goalie, just not ready to be handed the net and told it’s his.
In Edmonton, he can learn from Andersen, build confidence, and ease into a bigger role without carrying the “the guy” label.
That’s the appeal of the three-goalie plan. It gives the Oilers protection if injuries hit, especially with Andersen and Jarry, and it should help keep everyone fresher over the long haul.
That matters even more with the NHL season moving to 84 games. Edmonton has dealt with injuries and fatigue in the playoffs in recent years, and the hope is that won’t become an issue in goal again.
Andersen turns 37 in October, so the workload has to be managed carefully. If all three goalies are healthy, he shouldn’t even be dressing for games he isn’t starting.
No morning skate, no pregame warmups, no unnecessary shots in practice. The less wear and tear, the better.
In a perfect world, none of them would get pushed beyond 35 games. The ideal split, if everyone is healthy and playing well, would be 30-30-24.
Nobody should be parked in the press box for a month, and nobody should be asked to carry the whole thing alone. For the Oilers, this has to be a committee.
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The names that keep surfacing point to the same kind of player Edmonton is after: a winger who can score and fit into a contenders top six without disrupting the rest of the lineup. With the free-agent path looking thin, the real question is whether the Oilers want to wait for the trade deadline dance or get aggressive before the asking price and the competition both climb. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question is how the club balances those options at the start of the season, especially with a three-goalie plan hanging over the roster picture. There is a path for Edmonton to keep adjusting as the year goes on, and the cap flexibility gives it some breathing room if the front office decides the current mix still needs another jolt before the trade deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Blue Line Squeeze Could Force A Move Fans Saw Coming
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What makes the situation interesting is that the likely move does not appear to involve one of the more established names. Edmontons choice seems to be narrowing around a pair of younger defensemen, with handedness and recent usage both part of the equation. One option has the cleaner fit on paper, while the other spent more time on the outside looking in, and the Oilers now have to decide whether they want to keep the extra insurance or turn that depth into something else before camp sorts it out for them. [Read more 🡒]