{"id":440839,"date":"2026-02-02T02:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T02:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/440839\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T02:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T02:41:36","slug":"oilers-place-calvin-pickard-on-waivers-as-canadiens-weigh-their-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/440839\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers place Calvin Pickard on waivers as Canadiens weigh their options"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/638903.webp.webp\" style=\"width:100%;\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Oct 23, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky (20) looks for a pass in front of Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard (30) during the second period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images\" title=\"Oct 23, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky (20) looks for a pass in front of Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard (30) during the second period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>The Edmonton Oilers made a significant roster decision today by placing goaltender Calvin Pickard on NHL waivers.<\/p>\n<p>The news quickly drew reactions from observers because of the goalie\u2019s recent past.<\/p>\n<p>Renaud Lavoie highlighted the striking contrast in Pickard\u2019s career trajectory.<\/p>\n<p>He reminded everyone that Pickard was in net for a start during last June\u2019s Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a year later, he now finds himself available for free to the league\u2019s 31 other teams.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The player who started a game in the Stanley Cup Final last June has now been placed on waivers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Renaud Lavoie<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a brutal reminder of how quickly things can change for goaltenders in the NHL.<\/p>\n<p>The Oilers are likely looking to create roster flexibility or manage their salary cap.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Pickard has proven he can deliver quality minutes when the pressure is at its highest.<\/p>\n<p>An opportunity for the other NHL teams<\/p>\n<p>General managers searching for experience in net will now have 24 hours to make a claim.<\/p>\n<p>The goalie market is often unpredictable at this time of year.<\/p>\n<p>A veteran who has experienced the atmosphere of a Final carries real value for a young or struggling team.<\/p>\n<p>If no team submits a claim by tomorrow at noon, Pickard will have to report to the AHL affiliate.<\/p>\n<p>This situation shows that past performances never guarantee long-term job security.<\/p>\n<p>Edmonton appears ready to turn the page or take the risk of losing him for nothing.<\/p>\n<p>This will be a storyline to watch, as several teams could benefit from this kind of insurance policy, especially with so many goalie injuries around the NHL right now.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also worth noting that the Montreal Canadiens currently hold the 26th waiver priority, the 26th right of refusal to claim players.<\/p>\n<p>Pickard has already earned more than 10 million in salary over his NHL career.<\/p>\n<p>Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n<p>POLL<\/p>\n<p>7 HOURS AGO|565 ANSWERS<\/p>\n<p>Oilers place Calvin Pickard on waivers as Canadiens weigh their options<\/p>\n<p>Should a team claim Calvin Pickard off NHL waivers?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images The Edmonton Oilers made a significant roster decision today by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[275,198,146,5300,4284,5,4,24,16204,14,11839],"class_list":{"0":"post-440839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-calvin-pickard","9":"tag-edmonton","10":"tag-edmonton-oilers","11":"tag-edmontonoilers","12":"tag-goalie","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-oilers","16":"tag-renaud-lavoie","17":"tag-stanley-cup","18":"tag-waivers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115998732645463989","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}