In an attempt to solve their goaltending woes, the Edmonton Oilers acquired Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday while sending the much-maligned Stuart Skinner the other way. Edmonton needed to make a move in goal, but is Jarry really the answer?
The Oilers added Jarry and young forward Samuel Poulin from the Penguins in exchange for Skinner, veteran defenseman Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round pick. To make up for the loss of Kulak, Edmonton sent a 2027 third-round pick to the Nashville Predators for 25-year-old defenseman Spencer Stastney.
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It’s easy to see why Oilers general manager Stan Bowman felt compelled to make a deal for another goaltender. Edmonton is 30th in the league with a team save percentage of .873, and its original tandem of Skinner and Calvin Pickard combined to allow 15.6 goals saved above average, per Natural Stat Trick.
That said, it’s hard to see Jarry solving the Oilers’ goaltender issues, which have persisted throughout most of Connor McDavid’s career. Jarry is off to a good start in 2025-26, but his track record has plenty of red flags and Edmonton shipped off a second-round pick without getting any salary retention.
This trade is a lateral move and another example of the Oilers’ lack of imagination when it comes to building a true contender around McDavid and Leon Drasaitl.
Is Tristan Jarry an upgrade over Stuart Skinner?
Through the first two months of the season, there is no question that Jarry has been better than Skinner. Jarry has posted a .909 save percentage to go along with 4.40 goals saved above average and a sparkling .880 high-danger save percentage.
Skinner, on the other hand, has floundered with the rest of the Oilers. He’s flailed his way to an .891 save percentage, 3.85 goals allowed above average and a .771 high-danger save percentage.
On those grounds, this deal for Jarry makes plenty of sense, but the problem here is that goaltending is highly volatile. Even bad goalies can look good for 14 appearances and vice versa. That’s why you have to look at the longer track record, and that’s where this deal starts to sour for Edmonton.
In the two seasons spanning from 2023-25, Skinner has outplayed Jarry. In January of this year, Jarry was placed on waivers because of his poor performance. All 31 other teams had the chance to claim him, including the Oilers, and none did.
Here’s a comparison of Jarry and Skinner over the previous two seasons with data from Natural Stat Trick:
|
Tristan Jarry |
Stuart Skinner |
|
|
Games |
87 |
110 |
|
Sv% |
.898 |
.901 |
|
High-danger Sv% |
.782 |
.797 |
|
GSAA |
-7.94 |
-1.15 |
That’s a much larger sample size than the 14 games Jarry has played this season, and it’s cause for concern if you’re an Oilers fan. To make matters worse, Jarry doesn’t exactly have a stellar playoff resume, albeit in a small sample size.
In his eight postseason appearances, Jarry has posted an .891 save percentage and a 3.00 GAA. Both of those numbers are worse than Skinner’s, and the former Edmonton netminder has 50 postseason games under his belt.
The hope for Edmonton is that Jarry continues his strong start in a new locale, but he hasn’t been able to sustain a high level of play for a while now.
Oilers falling behind in the West
Despite possessing two of the top five players in the world, the Oilers find themselves at 14-11-6 and clinging to a wild card spot in the Western Conference. With McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the prime of their careers, Edmonton should be a juggernaut alongside the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. Instead, the team is just trying to scrape by for now.
That’s due in part to the fact that Oilers management has been content to tinker around the edges while other contenders have made big-time moves that push the needle in their favor.
Just look at some of the more significant moves Edmonton has made over the last few years. Prior to the 2024-25 season, the Oilers let two promising young players (and restricted free agents) walk out the door in Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. That same offseason, Edmonton brought in aging forwards Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson to bolster its top six. Those moves backfired almost immediately.
In 2023-24, the Oilers landed veteran Adam Henrique from the Anaheim Ducks in a trade. At the time, Henrique seemed like he could give Edmonton valuable depth down the middle. Instead, Henrique has totaled just 20 goals and 25 assists in 134 games with the team.
The Oilers’ inability to fix their goaltending issues might be the biggest condemnation of the front office. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Edmonton has rolled out Mike Smith, Mikko Koskinen, Jack Campbell, Skinner, Pickard and now Jarry. Each move has been — at best — lateral with no goalie providing reliability when it matters most.
Now compare the Oilers to teams like the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning, Avalanche and Stars. When a true impact player becomes available, those teams will move heaven and Earth if they think that player can get them over the hump. That includes letting franchise stars who are past their prime walk in free agency, trading productive roster players and forking over one future asset after another.
McDavid signed a short two-year extension at the start of this season, so Edmonton is only guaranteed to have him through 2027-28. That should create some urgency for the Oilers in their quest to build a Cup champion, but the acquisition for Jarry might be another single while other contenders swing for the fences.
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