{"id":854818,"date":"2026-08-12T01:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T01:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/854818\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T01:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T01:38:11","slug":"what-will-be-the-challenges-of-a-three-goalie-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/854818\/","title":{"rendered":"What will be the challenges of a three-goalie rotation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Edmonton Oilers<\/a> will carry three goalies on the roster to start the season, barring an injury in training camp or preseason. Stanley Cup champion Freddie Andersen<\/a> turns 37 on Oct. 2, and he\u2019s played 34, 16, 22 and 35 games the past four seasons. He\u2019s built for a three-goalie rotation.Tristan Jarry<\/a> is 31 and looking for a bounce-back season. Rumours of him being injury-prone are overblown. From 2021 to 2025, he played the 10th most games in the NHL among goalies (and he had a stint in the AHL in that time), before battling multiple injuries last year. I don\u2019t think one season makes him injury-prone.Devon Levi<\/a> turns 25 in December and spent last season in the American Hockey League. He has played 39 NHL games in his career and is looking for an opportunity to show he can play in the NHL.It is a unique combination of goalies, and you can make a case they are a good mix for a three-goalie rotation, if there is such a thing. Most goalies don\u2019t like it, and it makes sense why they don\u2019t, but more teams have tried it recently, and the Oilers will experiment with it \u2014 at least to start the season. One injury, and suddenly you have a regular tandem, or if Levi struggles, he could be sent down. There are many options, and goalie coach Peter Aubry<\/a> has the responsibility to work it the best he can while trying to keep all three goalies happy, fresh and ready.<\/p>\n

To me, the biggest challenge for the goalies will be to find a rhythm. Freddie Andersen has played sparingly the past four seasons, often due to injury, but he knows how to stay sharp without playing too often. It is a mental challenge as much as it is a physical burden. I have very little concern Andersen will perform well in this scenario, but it is fair to wonder how Jarry and Levi will handle the three-headed monster.<\/p>\n

I asked Kevin Woodley from In Goal Magazine what he sees as the biggest hurdle for Jarry and Levi succeeding in this situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re asking somebody to make big adjustments and you\u2019re not giving them a chance to play a lot of games to get comfortable with them, that\u2019s a pretty tall task, and that\u2019s the one thing I wonder about. It puts a lot of burden on Peter Aubry. If there\u2019s not going to be a lot of game reps, whether it\u2019s Levi or one of the other goalies, especially if they\u2019re making changes to find the things that make them comfortable. To try and help them adjust the things that they need to get more comfortable with and then walk into a game and not overthink it is a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe easiest thing to say and the hardest thing to do is just to go out and play. Good goalie coaches find ways to sort of get their guys there with the right work and the right drills. I would say that one of the things they\u2019re going to have to be cognizant of is how they manage practices, how they structure practices, and that goes beyond the goalie coach. That\u2019s the whole staff being on the same page in terms of how they manage rest, how they manage reps, and giving the goalies opportunities. There are times where the job is (in practice) you\u2019ve got to be a target, you\u2019ve got to put up with the crap and you\u2019re just basically there to stand in a skill session and get absolutely peppered. But you better find a balance where you can get something that resembles game reps for some of these guys to make sure they can work on things and stay sharp when they have long gaps between starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jarry and Andersen are veterans, and while Jarry doesn\u2019t have much experience playing fewer games in a season, he has played 326 NHL games. He\u2019s battled adversity before and, even if three goalies aren\u2019t ideal, he should be able to handle it. With Andersen\u2019s limited-game threshold, if Jarry gets off to a good start, he could easily find himself as the main starter, just not one who will play 50 games.<\/p>\n

Levi is the wild card. I\u2019ve never seen him play live, and only a few times on television. He hasn\u2019t played an NHL game since Jan. 20, 2025. He hasn\u2019t registered a save percentage above .900 in an NHL game since Oct. 17, 2024. He\u2019s a project at this point, and there is nothing wrong with that. The Oilers acquired him from Buffalo by swapping a seventh-rounder for a third-rounder, which isn\u2019t a big risk considering a third-round pick has about a 12 per cent chance to play 100-plus games in the NHL and a seventh-rounder has around a seven per cent chance. It was a low-risk bet to acquire Levi and see if he can become an NHL goalie.<\/p>\n

I asked Woodley for his scouting report on Levi and what areas of his game he needs to work on to become a regular NHL goalie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to preface my comment by saying I might be a bit biased. When you get to know some of these guys, and you see the work rate, and I really like him as a person, and I hope he has success and I\u2019ve seen the passion that he has for it. I\u2019ve been on the ice with him in the summers and seen some of the highlight reel saves that he makes in these scrimmages. So, I just want to put that out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, he does a lot of his training in three-on-three ranks, and one thing that\u2019s really important for goalies now is pace and being able to sort of maintain a high pace at the elite levels of the National Hockey League. He has all the pace in the world. He has all the horsepower in the world, and he pays attention to the fine details that allow him to control that pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think sort of managing depth and finding a line for him between aggressive and over-aggressive will be an important part, just because the game has changed since he last played in the NHL on a regular basis and there were things he did that he likely won\u2019t be able to keep doing now to have success. If he wants to come way out on a breakaway or on a shootout and use that skating to his advantage, that\u2019s one thing, but I point to the (Dustin) Wolf model and that contained element that is now in his game is what Levi will need.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Levi will need to find that contained method but do so with potentially limited opportunity. It will be a challenge, and how Aubry, in conjunction with head coach Mike Babcock<\/a>, rotate their goalies, both in games and practices, will be one of the key storylines to watch all season.<\/p>\n

There are so many variables to this situation that it likely won\u2019t be sorted out all season. Injuries, playing time, how they play and who plays well will likely be the most interesting and intriguing question all season.<\/p>\n

QUICK HITS\u2026\"Right:\"Right:<\/p>\n

I firmly believe this was done to generate conversation. He led D-men in scoring last season with 95 points. He was first in EV points with 60 and second in 5-on-5 scoring with 46, one behind Zach Werenski. Among these 20 D-men, his 5-on-5 SF per cent was second and his GF per cent was 12th and his plus-minus ranked fourth.<\/p>\n

If you look at the past three seasons, Bouchard ranks second in points with 244, third in EV points, third in 5-on-5 points, first among these 20 D-men in SF per cent at 5-on-5 (second in the entire NHL), seventh in GF per cent and third in plus\/minus.<\/p>\n

Take a quick look at playoff performances the past three seasons, and Bouchard ranks first in goals, assists, points, EV goals, assists and points, 5-on-5 goals, assists and points. He is second in SF per cent and third in GF per cent among these 20 D-men and ranks second and eighth among all D-men and he\u2019s tied for sixth in plus\/minus.<\/p>\n

I never get too riled about rankings, as we all have differing opinions, but ranking Bouchard 10th seems odd considering his recent r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and finishing fourth in Norris Trophy voting last season.<\/p>\n

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