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The purported deal between the Edmonton Oilers and the Pittsburgh Penguins was real, according to a well-placed insider.
The Edmonton Oilers have once been at the forefront of trade talk and speculation. One of the most recent bits of news was the purported trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins involving goaltender Tristan Jarry.
Initially, the talk was dismissed as just another Oilers trade rumor. But this time around, the rumors turned out to be true.
Insider Elliotte Friedman initially broke the news during last Saturday Night Headlines. Friedman discussed how the Oilers and Penguins had a deal on the table involving Jarry. However, the deal wasn’t meant to be Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry. Instead, the Oilers wanted to send other pieces in exchange for Jarry. The idea was to keep a Skinner-Jarry tandem.
Friedman then doubled down on the news during Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast. During the show, he elaborated on the deal being real. However, the sticking points getting in the way of the deal ended up derailing its completion.
Thus far, it’s unclear what the Oilers offered for the Penguins’ netminder. In the meantime, speculation remains rampant about just how close the Oilers were to potentially solving their goaltending woes.
Skinner-Pickard Embrace Set Off Alarms in Edmonton
One of the situations that set off alarms for Oilers fans was the unusually friendly embrace between Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard. The embrace occurred following the final buzzer in the game between Edmonton and Seattle last Thursday night. Edmonton got a big 9-4 win, a game that Pickard started.
Fan speculation went into hyperdrive, positing that it was a goodbye between the two longtime friends. Indeed, Friedman pointed out that the Jarry deal involved Calvin Pickard heading to Pittsburgh.
Perhaps the goalies had caught wind of the dealings and intuited the Kraken game might have been Pickard’s last in Edmonton. Fans can’t know that for sure, especially after comments by Skinner on Tuesday.
During a media opportunity, Skinner expounded on the embrace. He told reporters about how badly he felt for Pickard giving up four goals in the game. Ultimately, the win erased any bad feelings. But still, Skinner wanted to reassure his friend that he had done a good job in that game.
Oilers-Penguins Deal Nixed Due to Key Issue
So, Skinner dismissed any foreknowledge of a trade. Friedman affirms there was a deal on the table. That discrepancy makes sense. While teams generally give players a heads-up about trades, players aren’t always privy to every detail in negotiations.
That could be a major reason why Skinner and Pickard didn’t know about the trade. Nevertheless, Friedman explained why the deal didn’t happen at all. The dealbreaker was the Penguins’ reluctance to retain any part of Jarry’s salary.
The Oilers are up against the cap at the moment. According to PuckPedia, Edmonton has about $160K in available cap space. That’s just enough to keep the team compliant. But for the purpose of adding pieces, it’s negligible.
Jarry comes with a $5.375 million cap hit for two more seasons after this one. While the cap increase next season would offset Jarry’s hit, this season proves challenging. As a result, the Oilers would need to move out pieces in order to make things work.
Perhaps the deal is not entirely dead. The Oilers don’t have any NHL-level goalies under contract for next season. That could mean the Oilers and Penguins might take up this discussion again during the offseason.
Nestor Quixtan Seasoned NHL analyst and baseball writer focused on covering clubs across each league with news, analysis, and insights. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Nestor’s singular experiences and background have enabled him to bring a different take on the sports world as a whole. Nestor’s fondness for baseball and hockey set the tone for his love and passion for writing about sports. More about Nestor Quixtan
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