The Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins completed a trade involving four players on Friday. Among other things, the Oilers got their long-awaited reinforcement for the problem area in the goal.
Goalie Tristan Jarry is moving from the Pens to the Stanley Cup finalists of the previous two years. Striker Sam Poulin also joins the Canadians. In return, Pittsburgh will receive goalie Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak and a second-round pick in the 2029 draft.
Jarry has been one of the keys to a surprisingly good season for the Penguins (14-8-7, 35 points), who are currently in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. In his 14 appearances (13 starts), the 30-year-old, who is in his 10th NHL season, averaged 2.66 goals against with a catch rate of 90.9 percent and a shutout with the San Jose Sharks in October.
Edmonton and the goalie problem
In the last two years, the Oilers were in the Stanley Cup final against the Florida Panthers, but they were defeated in each case. People in Edmonton still imagine today how things would have turned out if the goalkeeper performances had been consistent. Neither Skinner nor backup Calvin Pickard gave the team the stability and security necessary to convert a title run into a title. Things don’t look much better in 2025 either: with a catch rate of 87.3 percent, the Canadians are in second-to-last place in the league.
The Oilers would have liked to keep Skinner and make him Jarry’s partner, but this was difficult to achieve financially due to the salary cap. Skinner, who is under contract through the end of the season, earns $2.6 million annually. For Jarry, whose working paper is valid until the 2027/2028 season, it is even $5.375 million per year.
In another trade Friday, the Oilers also acquired defenseman Spencer Stastney from the Nashville Predators for a 2027 third-round pick.