This in from NHL insider Kevin Weekes of ESPN and the NHL network, news that the Edmonton Oilers might be interested in trading for Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, a former Edmonton Oil Kings ace.

Said Kevin Weekes on Twitter X: “👀 I’m told 2X NHL All-Star and Penguins Goalie Tristan Jarry is among the goalies drawing significant interest as a potential option for the Edmonton Oilers, keep in mind he played in Edmonton with the Oil Kings.”

It’s also been reported that the Oilers are interested in St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington.

On Oilers Now, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said, “On Jarry, I’m not surprised that one is coming out because it actually makes logical sense. And Pittsburgh has got four goalies,”

Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer agreed the Jarry moves makes logical sense. “That’s the biggest part of it. Pittsburgh is in a position of strength here.”

Binnington is represented by the Octagon agency, which has many players with the Oilers, including Leon Draisaitl, Stauffer pointed out.

Earlier on the show, Stauffer said of the Oilers trade situation: “Performance dictates the course of action of a manager. So we’ll see. It is challenging when your team is capped out and for change to occur it might require more than one move. So we’ll see.”

He continued: “Because of their price point on Stuart Skinner ($2.6 million per year) logic dictates — and several of you have pointed this out — that it may be more than one move required if there is a change that gets made at some point here.”

Jarry, 29, makes $5.375 million this year and the next two seasons. He’s got a .911 save percentage in seven games for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh may be moving on from Jarry as the team has two younger goalies in Pittsburgh this year, Arturs Silovs, 24, of Latvia and Sergei Murashov, 21, of Russia. Jarry was sent down for 12 games in the American Hockey League last season. Pittsburgh also has Joel Blomqvist, 23, of Finland, in the AHl this year, who played for the Penguins last year.

In Pittsburgh, Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now reports that, “Edmonton and Jarry seemed to be a match until Jarry’s drama-filled 2024-25 season, in which Penguins goalies approached an NHL record for most goals allowed on the first shot of the game, and Jarry was waived in January… Jarry rebounded from the ignominious demotion by reclaiming the Penguins’ starting net over the final month last season. This season, Jarry has platooned with Arturs Silovs until a lower-body injury cost Jarry most of November. The Penguins activated Jarry Wednesday, and he will make his first start since suffering the injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 3.”

My take

1. A trade for a new goalie is starting to have the great weight of inevitability upon it. As the Cowboy Junkies sang about the end of a relationship: You can always see it coming, but you can never stop it.

2. in his 32 Thoughts column today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted, “After Tuesday’s 8-3 Dallas destruction, the Oilers have no choice but to ask themselves if it’s time to trade Stuart Skinner — for their benefit and his. Everyone… One of the reasons the Oilers wanted it to work so badly is Skinner’s budget-friendly $2.6M AAV in a tight cap situation. They felt very strongly that they had to know they were getting a guaranteed upgrade to give up on that. Now, you have to ask yourself: are you losing by not trying to come out even? Is there a situation where you feel someone will be rejuvenated in Edmonton, like Skinner might be elsewhere? The other question you have to ask: will a change lift our team? Is this weighing on them, too?”

3. Jarry played four years with the Oil Kings, winning the Memorial Cup with them in 2014. That Memorial Cup team had a number of top prospects, such as Henrik Samuelsson (drafted 27th overall, 2012), Curtis Lazar (drafted =17th overall, 2013), Mitch Moroz (drafted 32nd overall, 2012), Brett Pollock (drafted 45th overall, 2014), Griffin Reinhart (drafted 4th overall, 2012) and Jarry ((drafted 44th overall, 2013), but only Lazar and Jarry have made it long-term in the NHL.

At the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: ‘I don’t know how much time is left’: Huge Stu Skinner booster with sage advice

LEAVINS: Oilers return from the road and get blown out 8-3 by Dallas: Cult of Hockey Player Grades

STAPLES: Team Canada goaltender headed to the Edmonton Oilers?