What will the Edmonton Oilers do with Tristan Jarry next season?
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Edmonton Oilers have a goaltending problem on their hands.
Somehow, following the 11th season of Connor McDavid’s career, the Oilers have still failed to find a reliable goalie between the pipes.
GM Stan Bowman attempted to fix that issue this past December, acquiring Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade that has turned out to be a complete disaster.
The 31-year-old was as bad as it gets in his 19 regular-season appearances with the Oilers, posting a 3.86 GAA along with a .856 SV%. Making matters all the more problematic is that he has two more seasons remaining on his contract with a $5.375-million cap hit.
The question moving forward is what management can possibly do about it?
While some have discussed a trade, it’s hard to imagine any team willing to take on Jarry without receiving some massive compensation in the form of draft picks or a prospect. After all, his struggles aren’t a recent thing. He was placed on waivers during the 2024-25 season and spent a brief period in the AHL.
One option could be upgrading Connor Ingram and leaving Jarry in a backup role. The issue there is that, based on what we saw this season, he may not even be capable of living up to that role.
On top of that, the Oilers are also reportedly wanting to re-sign Ingram. The 29-year-old, at the very least, gave his team an opportunity to win through the vast majority of his starts in the regular season. Signing him to an extension could suggest management has another plan in mind with Jarry.
An option that has been discussed is burying Jarry in the AHL. He doesn’t carry a no-movement clause in his contract, which would make this possible.
Barring an absolute miracle on the Oilers’ behalf, Jarry would go unclaimed on waivers and then subsequently be sent to the Bakersfield Condors. The issue is that doing so would only provide the Oilers with $1.255 million in cap space. While far from ideal, this may still wind up being the best option available.
The other option is a buyout, but it’s a very unlikely course of action. Doing so would save the Oilers just $666,667 in cap space in 2026-27. That would then jump to roughly $1.17 million in cap savings for 2027-28, but would then continue to be on their payroll for the following two seasons at nearly $500,000.
Puckpedia
There’s no way to sugarcoat things. Trading for Jarry was a massive mistake by Bowman, and is a move that will continue to cause headaches for the organization going forward. That said, the Oilers cannot possibly enter the 2026-27 season with an Ingram/Jarry tandem, meaning Bowman is going to need to figure something out to minimize the blow.
Based on all the options available, that could very well result in Jarry being placed on waivers ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
- You might also like:
- Vegas blocking Edmonton Oilers from interviewing Bruce Cassidy: report