The Edmonton Oilers have a clear winner in backup goalie battle
The Edmonton Oilers will need to decide on their backup goalie in the coming weeks, and it’s shaping up to be an easy decision so far.
With Tristan Jarry set to return to the lineup this week, the Oilers will be carrying a total of three goalies on the roster, with Calvin Pickard and Connor Ingram. That will not be a sustainable situation down the stretch, and one of Pickard or Ingram will likely need to be jettisoned to the AHL eventually.
These past few weeks have been a battle of which goaltender should remain in the NHL, and right now, there is a clear winner. Ingram has gotten seven of the last 10 starts since being called up and has performed exceptionally well with a 4-2-1 record and a .904 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Pickard has managed a 2-1-0 record in his three starts with a dismal .857 SV% over that same stretch. For the entire season, the 33-year-old has a 5-6-2 record and .871 SV%.
A battle was had, and Ingram appears to have come out on top.
Connor Ingram with his best game as an Oiler tonight.
29 Saves
2.66 GSAx
Improves to 4-2-1Ties Pickard with 5 Quality Starts this season, in 6 fewer starts. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/7tvYjo28nX
— Golden Hockey (@GoldenHcky) January 13, 2026
There was a bit of a snag in the situation when it came to waiver requirements. Pickard will need to be placed on waivers if the Oilers send him down to the AHL. That isn’t the case with Ingram, right now, who will only need waivers once he is on the NHL roster for 30 cumulative days.
By this logic, the safe bet would have been to send Ingram down to ensure that the Oilers wouldn’t lose Pickard on waivers. That, however, is a piece of armour that the veteran backup goaltender is about to lose in less than a week.
Ingram was called up on Dec. 19, which means that the 30-day deadline is set to hit this upcoming Sunday, Jan. 18. Once that day comes around, the Oilers will need to place Ingram on waivers as well if they want to send him down.
Okay, so #Oilers can keep all three goalies on the roster while Henrique is on LTIR… there is no immediate urgency on that end.
However, Ingram will require waivers starting on Sunday… so there is a deadline on that front.
We’ll see if a decision is made before then
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) January 13, 2026
Who is more likely to get claimed off waivers: a 33-year-old goaltender with some of the worst NHL numbers this season, or a 28-year-old goalie attempting to make an NHL comeback and putting up respectable numbers along the way?
It feels like a no-brainer at this point that Ingram is much more likely to get scooped up on waivers than Pickard. Something the Oilers should try to avoid at all costs.
There is one way to get around this tense scenario, and that is to send Ingram down before Sunday’s deadline. Doing so would mean sticking with an inferior goaltending option in Pickard, which would go against what this Oilers team needs.
This is a Stanley Cup-contending team that has craved consistent goaltending for years at this point. It appears they have finally found that with a Jarry-Ingram tandem that has had fantastic early returns.
This wouldn’t be the first time this season that Oilers management has needed to consider waiving Pickard, as they nearly did so back in November. That move reportedly had some pushback from players who wanted to keep him in the dressing room.
It would make sense to keep a good locker-room player around as a seventh defenceman or a 13th forward, but the backup goalie position has become way too important to keep a player around for vibes alone.
Pickard has been a warrior for this Edmonton squad for a couple of years now. He’s come in and done fantastic work in high-pressure scenarios, but the road has to end at some point, and it feels like we are coming to that point.