5 realistic goalie options for the Oilers this season.

The Edmonton Oilers entered the offseason with a clear need of an upgrade at the goaltending position. After two consecutive runs to the Stanley Cup Final it has become clear to many that the Oilers desperately need to improve over their current tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, but with training camps rapidly approaching there has been no movement on that front.

It now seems all but inevitable that the Oilers will begin their season with their current tandem still intact, but that doesn't mean that they won't be actively scouring the National Hockey League during the regular season in search of an improvement.

Keeping that in mind, today I will be looking at 5 realistic options the Oilers could acquire this season:

#1 John Gibson - Detroit Red Wings.

After years and years of trade speculation, John Gibson was finally traded by the Anaheim Ducks this summer and shipped off to join the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings didn't give up a ton to acquire him, a second and fourth round draft selection alongside veteran NHL goaltender Petr Mrazek.

Should the Red Wings continue their trend of missing the playoffs I would not be the least bit surprised to see general manager Steve Yzerman make an attempt at flipping Gibson ahead of the trade deadline for a bigger return than what he paid this summer.

Gibson is coming off of a 29 game season in which he recorded a 2.73 goals against average and a .912 save percentage on an Anaheim Ducks team that failed to make the playoffs.

#2 Cam Talbot - Detroit Red Wings.

The other half of the Red Wings veteran goaltending tandem could very well suffer a similar fate should the Red Wings fail to make the playoffs. Like Gibson, Talbot has a ton of NHL experience under his belt and has even previously played in Edmonton and understands the unique pressures of playing in that Canadian market.

Talbot had a bigger role last season with the Red Wings than Gibson did with the Ducks, with Talbot appearing in 47 games where he recorded a 2.91 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

Which of these two gets moved could come down do which of the two veteran goalies shows the better form this season.

#3 Kevin Lankinen - Vancouver Canucks.

Lankinen was thrown into a very difficult situation last season after an injury left Canucks starting goaltender Thatcher Demko on the sidelines for much of the season. Lankinen was pushed into the role of a starting goaltender appearing in 51 games, by far the most of his NHL career, and performed admirably with a 2.62 goals against average and a .902 save percentage on a Canucks team that did not make the playoffs.

If the Canucks find themselves on the outside looking in again this season, it seems far more likely that they would be willing to move on from Lankinen than the aforementioned Demko. Whether or not Lankinen plays well enough this season to be considered a genuine upgrade over Pickard or Skinner however remains to be seen.

#4 Semyon Varlamov - New York Islanders.

Varlamov comes in lower on the list because of the poor season he had during the 2024-25 NHL regular season. He only appeared in 10 games for the Islanders, recording a 2.89 goals against average and a .889 save percentage, but historically he may be the most proven commodity on this list.

The Islanders currently have a lot of money committed to their goaltending with Ilya Sorokin commanding $8.25 million in cap space and they even brought in veteran backup David Rittich who comes in at a cap hit of $1 million this upcoming season.

If the Islanders find themselves on the outside looking in I could easily see them making the decision to move on from Varlamov and his cap hit of $2.75 million per season, and a bounce back season could easily make him an upgrade over Skinner or Pickard heading into the playoffs.

#5 Connor Ingram - Utah Mammoth.

Ingram is a similar situation to the one that Varlamov finds himself in after a career worst season in the NHL last year. Ingram appeared in 22 games for the Mammoth, recording a 3.27 goals against average and a .882 save percentage, neither of which would indicate that he would be an upgrade for the Oilers.

Ingram however, like Varlamov, has historically shown that he is a much better goalie than what he showed last season and he even has a very good excuse for his slump in performance. Ingram was left so devastated by the loss of his mother that he voluntarily entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program last season and was only just recently cleared to return to play in the NHL.

A bounce back season for Ingram would make him a prime trade candidate for the Oilers, especially if the Mammoth once again fail to make it into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Would you take a gamble on any of the goalies listed above? Let me know what you think in the comments.