Oilers make a change in goal... finally

For the first time in over a decade, the Edmonton Oilers will have a new goaltending coach.

Oilers insider Jason Gregor reports today that Oilers goalie coach Dustin Schwartz, who had been with the team since 2014, will not return to the team in 2025-26.

Schwartz's contract reportedly expired on June 30th and the team elected not to sign him to a contract extension.

Gregor makes the pitch for the Oilers to create a 'Goaltending Department' much like Roberto Luongo has done with the Florida Panthers or like Ian Clark has done with the Vancouver Canucks.

Gregor also throws out some potential coaching options for the Oilers moving forward. From his post for Oilers Nation:

Stephen Waite. He won two Cups with Chicago and spent many years with Carey Price in Montreal. He’s been out of the league for a few years, but I was told he’d like to get back in. If he is still interested, I’d interview him.

Mackenzie Skapski. He is currently the Flames AHL goalie coach. He’s a disciple of Benoit Allaire, and he worked closely with Dustin Wolf. He is highly regarded and his name came up from all four different goalie people I spoke to.

Sylvain Rodrigue. He was with the organization before and worked with Skinner in Bakersfield. He’s currently in Florida, and I was told the Oilers have, or are hoping, to interview him.

Jeff Salajko is the Oiler goalie scout. He has previous NHL experience as goalie coach with Detroit. He ran the development camp this past week and will be in the mix.

Pete Aubrey. Has been in NCAA the past few years, but also worked with Chicago’s AHL team. I’ve heard he’ll be interviewed.

Marco Marciano is another name that kept coming up. He’s highly touted and working in Laval with Montreal’s AHL team. His name kept coming up, similar to Skapski.

Dan Stewart is the St. Louis Blues AHL coach. He’s worked his way up from the OHL, to USport and the past five seasons in the AHL.

Whatever the Oilers elect to do, it's clear that a change was needed.