Over the last 48 hours, there have been a number of rumors circulating that the Edmonton Oilers are acquiring Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, last night NHL insider Elliotte Friedman informed everyone that it is not true and that the situation is actually more complicated than originally expected.
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Last night on Friedman’s Saturday Headlines, he said he did some digging into whether the Oilers were close to acquiring Jarry and was led to believe it was much more difficult than that.
Oilers Have Interest in Jarry
It is true, the Oilers do have interest in Jarry. But, according to Friedman, it isn’t even as simple as a one-for-one swap for Stuart Skinner. Here’s what he had to say:
“I do think there’s legitimate Edmonton interest in Jarry, but I think it’s extremely complicated, and might not be possible. Mainly because Pittsburgh has indicated it will not retain. It might not be possible because Edmonton would have to do some roster surgery to get it done, and right now, because of their own injury and cap situation, they’re really stuck.”
He also mentioned that the Oilers don’t want to part with Skinner and would ideally want him and Jarry as a tandem.
“One of the reasons I don’t believe it’s possible is because I don’t think it’s a Skinner for Jarry situation. I believe for the Oilers, what they would like to do, if they ever could do this, would be to pair Skinner with Jarry. So again, there’s interest, but I don’t know and I’m not convinced it’s going to be possible.”
If this is the case, it looks like the Oilers are going to be out of luck acquiring Jarry from the Penguins. While it would drastically change the outlook of their crease, it appears Edmonton is going to need to get creative on the trade front to address their goaltending issues.
Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
There are a handful of other goalies that could make more sense and be cheaper. As my colleague Rupert McDonald pointed out in his article titled “6 Goalies That Should Be on the Oilers’ Trade List” back on Nov. 17, there are a few options from the Buffalo Sabres, including Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who could be available. He also named Elvis Merzlikins, who has seemed to fall out of favor this season as the Columbus Blue Jackets’ starting goalie.
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Another option, and by far the easiest, would be Connor Ingram, who is currently playing with the Bakersfield Condors in the American Hockey League. It will take a bit of salary cap gymnastics to make the swap, but it does make sense to send down Calvin Pickard and call up Ingram to see if he can help steady the crease.
Unfortunately, the Oilers’ chances of acquiring Jarry from the Penguins are slim to none, at least for now.
