With hockey being a tag team sport in net, who is Tristan Jarry playing with here next season, because he’s not going anywhere with two years left at $5.4 million?
Does it make any sense to roll out Connor Ingram and Jarry, Part 2?
Fiscally, yes, because the UFA goalie Ingram might only be in the $2.5 million range for one and all July 1, and that would be about $8 million on the Edmonton Oilers salary cap, certainly manageable. But realistically? No, the Oilers will likely go elsewhere.
Only sure thing? They’re not bringing back fellow UFA Stuart Skinner.
He would fit best with Linus Ullmark in Ottawa, with Sens’ GM Steve Staios, who had one year in player development under GM Ken Holland, can make the dollars work. Ullmark needs a 1b, with starting chops, in a partnership. But Ingram is a distinct possibility there, too, and cheaper than Skinner.
Here’s the thing with the Oilers. They have two good, young farmhands in Connor Ungar (Bakersfield) and Swede Samuel Jonsson (Fort Wayne) and a former second-round draft pick, Eemil Vinni, playing back in Finland, but they’re nowhere near being NHL-ready.
Yes, the sexy headline is they go after Detroit’s Sebastian Cossa, who was supposed to be John Gibson’s partner next season, but his status in the Wings’ long-range plans has dimmed considerably since he sat while Czechia’s young Michal Postava played all eight post-season AHL games for Grand Rapids.
Yes, the Oilers wanted to pick the former Oil Kings’ goalie in the first-round in 2021, but Steve Yzerman moved ahead of them with a draft-day trade at No. 15. But Cossa has played exactly one NHL game and it was in relief of Ville Husso on Dec. 9, 2024 against Buffalo.
How much do you give up for a 23-year-old with just 45 minutes of NHL work (a second-round draft pick in 2026), even if Cossa has a place in history: the first goalie to win his initial game in a shootout, stopping Tage Thompson and J.J. Peterka?
Could Cossa really be a tag-teamer with Jarry, who has to get his own game in order?
That December 2025 Pittsburgh acquisition of Jarry for Skinner and defenceman Brett Kulak and a second-round draft pick turned out to be less than even a shuffling of deck chairs, as we all know. Jarry got into one playoff game for the Oilers against Anaheim while Ingram played the other five. That should tell you the level of confidence they (OK, former head coach Kris Knoblauch and goalie coach Peter Aubry) had in Jarry, 31, although GM Stan Bowman, who made the Jarry trade, likely sees it a tad differently.
One thing is certain. Jarry badly needs to (a) stay healthy and (b) have a look-in-the-mirror off his .858 save percentage in 19 league games. His contract is untradeable. They have to make it work, somehow. And, of yeah, the Oilers will also have Jack Campbell’s buyout $2.6 million on the books next season.
The market for veterans in trades is pencil-thin.
Adin Hill, a cheerleader now to Carter Hart in Vegas. Yes, Vegas wants to unload his contract but no way the Golden Knights deal the 2023 Cup hero to the rival Oilers (see former coach Bruce Cassidy), plus he’s through-the-roof expensive at $6.25 million for four more years.
Jordan Binnington, the No. 2 or at least a tag-teamer in St. Louis to Joel Hofer, with one year left at $6 million AAV, then he’s UFA. Very good playing for Canada, not so much for the Blues, but he would be incentivized to play with Connor McDavid.
Sam Montembault, once the No. 3 goalie on Canada’s Four Nations Face-off team in 2024, now the No. 3 in Montreal behind Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler. His game fell off the map this past season. Yeah, he’s cheap at $3.15 million for one more year, but he likely is who he is, turning 30 in October. Is he a clear upgrade on Ingram? No.
So there we are.
Talking about goaltending, ad nauseam.
Edmonton Oilers’ Zach Hyman (18) celebrates his goal against the Los Angeles Kings with Darnell Nurse (25) during first period NHL playoff action, in Edmonton Thursday May 1, 2025. Photo by David Bloom
This ‘n that
General feeling is the Oilers would still have to eat 25-30 percent of Darnell Nurse’s $9.25m AAV cap hit for four more years if they were talking to the Sharks in a deal and Nurse were to agree to waive his no-trade. Yes, San Jose has cap room but they have Dmitry Orlov and young Sam Dickinson on the left side now. Then again, maybe GM Mike Grier wants to send back a hefty contract he doesn’t want and would take on the $9.25m. For now, all hypothetical. What we forget is who eats up Nurse’s top four minutes (21 a game) if the Oilers trade him? Jake Walman maybe, but fellow lefty Mattias Ekholm turns 36 this season. His icetime may be going down at his age. What the Sharks might well do is try and sign Colorado’s Brett Kulak as a left D UFA in the $4 million range because their long-time left defenceman Mario Ferraro is going to market to see what he can get. Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini might be acting as an unofficial scout on Nurse as they are teammates for Canada at the worlds.
With winger Roby Jarventie leaving Bakersfield to sign in Switzerland (Ambri-Piotta), the smaller Aku Raty will take his spot on a two-way, one-year deal. Raty played for Finland at the 2021 U20 World Juniors at Rogers Place. He was a teammate of Jarventie.
Cossa is not waiver-exempt, so he has to play in the NHL season, somewhere, or a team risks a waiver claim.
Ex-Oiler goalie Cam Talbot, over at the worlds as one of Canada’s net tandem with Blue Jackets’ Jet Greaves, is an unrestricted free-agent July. Talbot, in Detroit for the last two years, turns 39 four days after free-agency starts.
Does Jesse Puljujarvi get another NHL shot off his strong season in Geneva in the Swiss League and out-playing several NHLers on Finland at the worlds? Happy that Puljujarvi is opening some eyes but NHL teams would likely be looking at him as a third-line NHL winger at around $1 million. He’s not top six. His NHL consistency remains an issue with many people. Would the Oilers look at him, again? Don’t see it.
Quinn Hutson had an excellent AHL season in Bakersfield (63 points in 67 games) but is there room for a smallish, highly competitive Matt Savoie and Ike Howard in top 9 here? Possible chance Hutson, 24, is dangled in any trades Oilers want to make.
One-time Oiler/Flyers winger Patrick Thoresen is doing a nice job as the Norwegian head coach at the worlds in Switzerland, with his team knocking off Czechia to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Lots of rising stars as minor-league coaches but ex-Oiler forward Mark Letestu, in his first year behind Colorado’s AHL Eagles, is right up there. They’re in AHL Final Four playing the Chicago Wolves.
Centre Noah Philp, claimed by Carolina off Oilers waivers, isn’t on the Canes playoff roster as an extra because the Wolves are still playing. He has four goals in nine playoff games for Carolina’s affiliate. He’s UFA July 1. He might be better off signing somewhere else with a somewhat shallower depth chart than the Canes, who haven’t played fellow centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi and his $4.25m AAV in any of their 10 post-season games..
The Oil Kings will be replacing former Oilers defenceman Ladislav Smid in their player development role. Smid has moved back home for a couple of years, taking on an assistant coaching job with Sparta Praha. Mark Pysyk and Devin Shore are on that team.
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