Oilers-Penguins trade rumblings that could shake things up and shock everyone

The Edmonton Oilers are still looking to upgrade their current goaltending tandem just isn’t enough to get them over the hump. With free agency offering little more than backup options, any meaningful upgrade in net would have to come through a trade. On Friday, Michael Amato of Sportsnet hinted at the Oilers’ latest target in Tristan Jarry with trade rumblings including the Pittsburgh Penguins suddenly entering the picture.

Amato believes Edmonton could be one of the only teams seriously weighing a move in goal, and Jarry, despite a difficult season, may be one of the only viable trade targets left.

“As risky as it would be to bring Jarry in, the above reasons may also make it the perfect time to acquire him. You’d be buying low and the return wouldn’t be astronomical for a goaltender coming off a season like Jarry had. Plus, if the Pens ate some of the cap hit, you could potentially get Jarry’s number down to around the $3 million range. That brings some of the risk down and makes the remaining years of the deal more palatable.”

Some fans in Edmonton are shocked by the rumour, seeing that Jarry’s 2024–25 season was a mess. He cleared waivers, spent time in the AHL, and posted a rough .893 save percentage with a GAA over 3.00. But when he was good, he was still really good, posting a .900+ save percentage in half of his 36 appearances, including a strong late-season stretch.

More importantly, his career numbers remain solid: a .909 save percentage and a 152-97-31 record. That’s better than league average over the past five seasons and miles ahead of what Edmonton got in the playoffs last spring (.888 combined from Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard).

However, cap space remains tight in Edmonton, and so any move would require Pittsburgh to retain part of Jarry’s salary, which currently sits at $5.375 million. If the Penguins eat $2–3 million and the Oilers give up a minimal return, a Skinner-Jarry tandem under $6M becomes a feasible gamble in Edmonton. With the cap going up, that’s a reasonable number for a team in win-now mode.

As for the Penguins, who appear to be in a full-on rebuild, they now have newly-added goalie Arturs Silovs and prospect Joel Blomqvist waiting in the wings and could be willing to part with Jarry, especially if it helps clear cap space and fast-track a rebuild.

The question remains if the trade scenario is worth the risk for Edmonton.

That depends on how much they trust Jarry to bounce back, and how much the Penguins are willing to retain. The Oilers have reached back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in spite of their goaltending, and we all know how that window won’t stay open forever.

If there’s even a chance Jarry could return to form behind a better defensive team, this might be the best low-cost, high-upside option left this summer.

It feels like a significant gamble for the Oilers, one that has surprised many fans across the league, I say in today’s market, nearly every goalie move is. If Edmonton wants better than Skinner and Pickard without breaking the bank, Jarry might be the only option left for them.