Just wow. That's all I can say after this major shake-up, coming at a weird time in the 2025-26 Oilers season. The Edmonton Oilers have traded Brett Kulak, Stuart Skinner, a 2029 second-round pick and a 2027 3rd round pick. They acquired goalie Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Nashville Predators sent 25-year-old …
Just wow. That’s all I can say after this major shake-up, coming at a weird time in the 2025-26 Oilers season. The Edmonton Oilers have traded Brett Kulak, Stuart Skinner, a 2029 second-round pick and a 2027 3rd round pick. They acquired goalie Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Nashville Predators sent 25-year-old defenceman Spencer Stastney. It’s all coming off a solid home stretch for the Oilers after a solid 4-1 win against the Red Wings last night. With the team gaining some traction, it seemed like Bowman was able to make the deal at an interesting time.
Waking up this morning to the trade was just rather shocking. I was at the game last night and was quite happy with the way things looked. I don’t think anyone really expected the move, and I just think it came at an unusual time. The Oilers, coming off a 3-1-1 home stand, looked as if they had started to find their game again. The rumours of the goalie deals quieted quite a bit. I just didn’t expect this at all, especially how Skinner has turned it around. I really don’t feel like the Oilers management is getting a big enough upgrade to justify Moving Skinner. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Skinner fan, but Jarry was on waivers at one point last year. Why did the Oilers not make a move for a Goalie in the past? They have had years to address this problem, and now they are finally making this move.
I really don’t feel like Oilers’ management is getting a big enough upgrade to justify moving Skinner. Don’t get me wrong — I am not a Skinner fan — but Jarry was on waivers at one point last year. Why did the Oilers not make a move for a goalie in the past? They have had years to address this problem, and now they are finally making this move.
Jarry may be a bump up on Skinner’s play, but the fact that management gave up Brett Kulak — who has been solid for the Oilers for years — leaves a gaping hole in the Oilers’ D-core. With Walman being on LTIR, it leaves them with three defencemen, where you don’t know what you’ll get yet. Stastney is apparently a younger Kulak, which is a good sign. He is 25 years old, apparently skates well, and is at a lower AAV. I am at least happy they made a move to get another D-man, or else they would be slim pickings. I guess we will see how it looks, they will need one more defenceman in my opinion.
The other positive is that the picks are in 2029 and 2027; this is good because they are picks in the future. The picks given up let the Oilers still have some assets to make a big move at the deadline as well. Both trades are not negative — they both have some upside — but the cost and timing Oilers management gave up to make it happen, I don’t love.
I think the worst part is that Jarry has no cap retention. The Oilers’ cap remains the same, with Jarry coming in and Skinner + Kulak going out. Jarry’s salary at $5.45 million is a steep price for the next two years in the pipeline. Given the price they paid, I wish the Oilers had been able to have some of Jarry’s salary retained. Reports from earlier last week mentioned how the Penguins did not want to retain Jarry. I also think Skinner is still quite young. Jarry is 30 years old, Skinner is 27. I feel as if, based on the past of these 2, the deal does not make sense. Goaltending has a steep price, I guess.
The last note I have is that Kulak and Skinner are unrestricted free agents at the end of this season. I think on that note, it makes it a little easier to swallow the move. I could see the Oilers bringing those guys back if they get to free agency 😂. Furthermore, I am also curious to see how Skinner plays with his future in Pittsburgh. It’s a running joke that when goalies leave Edmonton, they turn into All-Star goalies. I guess we will see.
All in all, I don’t love it, but time will really tell, and I will give Jarry some time to prove how effective a solid goaltender can be. It just feels like — why couldn’t Oilers management have done this earlier? Multiple goalies have had some cheap costs, and they didn’t make one move.
This game should also be fun 😉
I will let you be the judge of these stats between Jarry and Skinner.
Here are some of the things the Oilers General Manager said about the trades in his press conference with the media this morning.
“I know the timing looks unusual,” Bowman said. “But when an impact goalie becomes available, and the numbers work, you have to explore it. We felt this was the right moment to act rather than wait.”
“We see Tristan as someone who can stabilize things for us,” Bowman said. “He’s got a strong track record, and we think our environment can get him back to that level.”
“Stastney is someone we’ve liked for a while,” Bowman explained. “He skates well, he plays a reliable game, and at 25 he’s still growing. We see him as a younger version of Kulak with a lot of upside.”
“Retention wasn’t something Pittsburgh was willing to do,” Bowman said. “We weighed it heavily, but in the end we felt the acquisition was worth the full hit.”
So this proves a few things. The Oilers were getting a goalie no matter when. They liked Jarry from the get-go. They like Stastney as a replacement, and Pittsburgh did not want to retain Jarry.
I don’t love this deal to be honest.
Time will tell. The question remains, what will be the Oilers’ next move? They have the assets to make another major move. Go Oilers Go
