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Kyle Dubas explains why he traded Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Dec 12 2025, 8:55 pm
Kyle Dubas explains why he traded Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers
Jerome Miron/Imagn Images

After plenty of speculation in recent weeks, the Edmonton Oilers finally pulled the trigger and landed Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This wasn’t an easy deal for the Oilers to pull off, as Jarry carries a rather hefty $5.375-million contract that runs through the 2027-28 season. In order to make it work from a money perspective, the Oilers parted ways with Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak, along with a second-round pick in 2029. The Oilers were also able to pick up depth forward Samuel Poulin in the deal.

This wasn’t an easy decision for the Oilers to make, as they drafted and developed Skinner, and have watched Kulak become a fixture on their back end since being acquired in 2021-22. That said, it wasn’t an easy move for the Penguins to make, either.

After struggling immensely in 2024-25, Jarry was having a solid bounce-back season for the Penguins. His 9-3-1 record, 2.66 GAA, and .909 SV% are big reasons why the Pens find themselves in a playoff spot through 29 games.

“With goaltending, it comes with a certain sense of volatility,” Penguins GM Kyle Dubas explained. “There’s very few goalies in the league that have that linear progression night after night. It’s an up-and-down profession; it’s a tough profession. I don’t think we’ve, at times, made it the easiest position to play.

“I think Tristan, as everyone in here has seen, is extremely talented. It will be a great opportunity for him in Edmonton, where he’s had success in junior with the Oil Kings. I’m happy for him.”

This decision by Dubas doesn’t seem to reflect as much on Jarry as it does on the opportunity to make his team better all around, not only right now, but in the future.

“I just think with where we’re at, the opportunity to bring in a goalie that has deep experience in Stu, plus what we feel is an ability to upgrade our defence, plus the draft pick, it just made sense for us to do it at this time.”

Following the deal, the Penguins also announced that they had placed veteran defenceman Matt Dumba on waivers.

The Oilers weren’t done with transactions following this trade, either. Just a short time later, they traded a 2027 third-round pick to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenceman Spencer Stastney.

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