Deadline choices might come back to trouble the Oilers as they compete for the playoffs.
Before the trade deadline, Edmonton made some big moves to fill important gaps in their lineup. They strengthened their defense by getting Connor Murphy, improved their center positions with Jason Dickinson, and earlier in December made a big trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins to get goalie Tristan Jarry. On the surface, it seemed like the Oilers were gearing up for a strong playoff effort.
However, the stats reveal a different situation. Rory Boylen from Sportsnet mentions, “If the playoffs started today, the Oilers probably wouldn’t even have the goalie they just traded for this season. Jarry has an . 862 save percentage in 13 games with the team, which is 30 points lower than off-season addition Connor Ingram. ”
Even though people were suggesting that Edmonton should go after goalies like Jordan Binnington or Sergei Bobrovsky before the trade deadline on Friday, the Oilers had already made a goalie trade this season and needed to address other areas of their team.
The stretch run is on and the playoff races are shaping up to be close and exciting.
Our regular check-ins on those races begin now, with @RoryBoylen looking at some questions that presented themselves in the fallout of a rather quiet deadline. https://t.co/pab0DZXi32
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 10, 2026
Now, there are questions: can Jarry improve his game, or will Ingram be the better choice? To make matters worse, Ingram got hurt last night in a hit with Nathan MacKinnon from the Colorado Avalanche, adding more uncertainty to the goalie situation in Edmonton.
With strong goaltending being really important for a successful playoff run, the Oilers might end up wishing they had taken a bigger risk with their goalies before the deadline.
I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see…
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