9:45 a.m.: All three teams have confirmed the trades. The Penguins confirmed that the draft pick acquired from the Oilers will be Edmonton’s 2029 second-round pick. No salary was retained in either deal.
9:02 a.m.: The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly close to making a pair of significant trades today. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers are working to acquire netminder Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins and defenseman Spencer Stastney from the Nashville Predators. Shortly thereafter, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun confirmed that Jarry is heading to Edmonton.
As trade details continue to trickle in, LeBrun reported that Stastney will cost Edmonton their 2027 third-round pick. Meanwhile, insider Frank Seravalli suggests that Stuart Skinner and another player are a part of the package going to Pittsburgh for Jarry. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes added that defenseman Brett Kulak and a draft pick are also going to Pittsburgh, while former first-round pick Samuel Poulin is headed to Alberta.
Edmonton’s interest in Jarry has been well-known for the last few weeks. A day before American Thanksgiving, Weekes reported that Jarry had been generating trade interest from around the league and that the Oilers were far and away the most interested — for good reason. Given the tight salary cap situation for the Oilers, it’s likely that trade conversations between Edmonton and Pittsburgh have been going on for the last several weeks.
After playing relatively well for the Oilers throughout their first run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, Edmonton returned to the Cup Final last season despite Skinner’s performance. He didn’t play in all the potential games throughout last year’s push, but he finished with a .889 SV% in 15 contests, including a more than disappointing .861 SV% in five games against the Florida Panthers.
The situation has worsened this season, and obviously reached a boiling point for the Oilers’ front office. Through Edmonton’s first 33 games, the duo of Skinner and Calvin Pickard has combined for a .879 SV%. There was no help available via recall either, as third-string netminder Connor Ingram owns a .868 mark with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
If Jarry continues his current resurgence, the Oilers should have some newfound stability in the crease. In 13 starts this season, Jarry has a 9-3-1 record with a .909 SV% and 2.66 GAA. According to MoneyPuck, for netminders that have played in 10 or more games, Jarry is ranked 22nd in the league for Goals Saved Above Expected this season. He’s by no means the best netminder in the league this season, though he’s performing much better than Skinner and Pickard, who are ranked 32nd and 52nd, respectively.
Still, Jarry has been volatile in his own right. Last season, in what was the worst performance of his professional career, Jarry finished with a .892 SV% and 3.12 GAA, ranking 33rd in GSAx. If he reverts to that form as he finishes out the remaining three years of his five-year, $28.66MM contract, the Oilers will be in a world of trouble.
At any rate, while they acquired a pair of pending unrestricted free agents in Skinner and Kulak, it’s nothing but a win for the Penguins to receive a second-round pick for Jarry’s services. One year ago, Pittsburgh placed Jarry on the waiver wire, meaning the Oilers could have had him for free had they been able to make the money work. The fact that the Penguins were able to get actual assets for Jarry a year later is a testament to their patience.
Meanwhile, the Oilers have swapped Kulak’s $2.75MM cap hit with Stastney’s $825K. Despite finishing with the highest point production of his career last season, Kulak has struggled through the first few months of the 2025-26 campaign.
Registering only two assists in 31 games, it became apparent that Kulak’s time with the Oilers may be coming to an end. Typically reliable on the defensive side of the puck, Kulak’s 87.0% on-ice save percentage at even strength was troubling considering that he had never finished with lower than an 89.0% mark throughout his 12-year career.
Stastney, 25, offers more on the offensive side of the puck and is actually performing better on the defensive side of the puck compared to Kulak this season. The pending restricted free agent blueliner has scored one goal and nine points in 30 games this season for the Predators, averaging a 90.0% on-ice save percentage.
Lastly, as a part of the Jarry trade, the Penguins have finally moved on from Poulin. The 24-year-old had appeared in a few games for the Penguins this season, but failed to do much with his opportunity despite being given middle-six minutes. Still, he’s been on a tear in the AHL, scoring nine goals and 20 points in 22 games. He’ll likely report directly to the Oilers, considering the number of injuries they’ve had to their depth forwards this season.
Photo courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.
Wow. Has to be some retention by the pens. Curious to see what the return will be
Will be interesting to see the return for Jarry. He’s been maddingly inconsistent the past couple years and despite being in the playoff mix that contract is terrible if/when his play dips again.
Stastney did a decent job for the Preds. Not a bad pickup for the Oilers.
Didn’t wake up this morning expecting this! Thought they would ride the Skinner-Pickard train all day, everyday. Respect to them though. Will he be enough to push them over the edge is the real question
No
retention or a cap dump player, Edmonton has no space and would need to balance the cap here or to nashville
What a terrible trade.
I don’t even understand this.
A late second? If it was for a first it would still be a bad deal but for a late second, it’s insane.
We are giving up a guy playing really well with a manageable cap hit for a guy who can’t stop a beach ball and our reward is a late second?
Could have just paired Jarry with Murashov on his rookie deal and had an elite tandem and dealt Silovs.
Easily the worst thing Dubas has done here…AND HE SIGNED RYAN GRAVES. Awful.
You think if they had gotten a first for the most overpriced goalie in hockey it would have been bad? You really are the most irrational kind of fan. Penguins are heading down slowly and to be able to dump even some of that contract is incredible. I can’t wait for your reaction when they trade Crosby to Montreal.
Not too long ago, most Penguins fans were content to have someone just take the overpaid, inconsistent, and streaky Jarry for free. Pens fans have been booing him. Jarry’s looked bad at times in WBS. In this context, Dubas has managed to get Skinner, Kulak and a 2nd round draft pick basically for free, getting out of Jarry’s contract, while clearing out room for Murashov. Dubas can flip Skinner too, if they can rehab him. The Penguins are still in a rebuild, they should sell, not try for a playoff run too soon. Just keep accumulating assets. I thought this was a masterful move by Dubas.
Wish Jarry well in Edmonton, and hope he fixes himself.
Don’t reply to me if you won’t allow replies, Coward.
I have zero respect (it’s literally beyond pathetic) for the type who yaps and then hides, Purse Dog.
And I didn’t say he could fetch a first (limited market) but that it would be better to keep him rather than get so little for him but reading is hard when you are a purse dog hiding under the lipstick, I guess.
A house that has been rebuilt is worth more than one that is one fire.
Should you sell the rebuilt house at the same price it was listed after it was gutted by fire?
Yeah, we tried to give him away because he was terrible. He’s been really good and I don’t see signs that it’s a fluke (I do see signs that Silovs could be exposed routinely once a book gets out on him, OTOH).
I have solid hope for Murashov but he has not been as good as his numbers look and would likely benefit from a full AHL season.
Also, it’s unclear if Murashov will even be recalled…or are they going to use Skinner as their tanking tool?
Terrible take, you can say what you want about how Jarry is playing NOW but he didn’t look all that great last night and has been inconsistent during this contract.
You didn’t get just a late second. You opened up over 5 mil in cap space the next 2 years. And you acquired 2 additional players that will likely be flipped.
Not to mention you have Murashov beating down the door in WB.
This was a win for the Pens. Keeping him was a gamble with a 5 mil salary for 2 more years after this year when you can run with Murashov?
MTL got a first round pick to take Sean Monahan because he has such little value.
Then, he played well and rebuild his value.
Should MTL have sold him for a 5th because he had been bad prior to that instead of the first round pick they traded him for after he rebuilt his value?
Monahan? What was that… 2 years or so ago?
Just because Winnipeg was willing to overpay for a position need doesn’t mean you are going to get other teams to do it.
You seem to be stuck on a late 2nd round pick. You add in value of freeing up 10 mil over the next 2 years and 2 players that will likely be flipped and to me that’s more than a first round pick.
The question is whether you sell a player based on his CURRENT or PREVIOUS value.
Neither. You sell a player for what the market dictates his surplus value to be vs. his contract.
If Jarry wasn’t $5.5M/yr for this year and 2 more, then he would have fetched more. At his best he justifies that hit. But he is inconsistent and hurt a lot.
No one was going to offer a 1st for him at that price. So the options were:
A. Hold him and hope he stays healthy AND plays at a consistently high level (something he has never figured out). Big risk that he regresses and you are stuck with an overpaid goalie the next 2 years.
B. Retain enough salary to get a 1st. Still may not have been possible. Takes 2 to tango.
C. Trade him while his stock is high, use the flexibility the next two years to either find a better goalie or build a stronger team around a more appropriately paid one.
This was a good deal for C. Unless you think they were winning the cup with Jarry this year, A makes little sense to me. Jarry has a hot stretch or 2 every year, yet always cools off. No evidence to support him consistently being a top ‘tender game in and game out.
EDM better hope he stays healthy and stands tall in playoffs.
Goodkat is right.
You can’t separate the Jarry that has played this year from the Jarry that has shown inconsistency for his entire career.
If you run a risk analysis on Jarry you have to weigh everything. Past, current, and future. His past indicates he is capable of being good but often falters and becomes a detriment. His current state he is playing well, his future is 2 year with 5.5 mil each year and taking up time from two younger goalies that offer replacement level play at lower cost.
The pens next year have over 50 million in cap space and this year can take on a ton of cap space at the deadline to acquire more picks for a possible trade next off season.
If this deal was made in the offseason you’d be excited for it. If this deal was made in a month or two during Jarry’s typical collapse, you’d be thrilled.
This is not even taking into account for Skinner who can offer Jarry level production on an expiring deal as well.
A. Keep him and pair him with Murashov and have the potential for one of the best tandems in the league for less than $6.5 AAV total. A tandem where either player could end up being an elite option and, if not, is a high end backup.
Trade Silovs while he’s still very cheap and intriguing.
I believe Murashov’s entry deal is up this year, so you are still just completely ignoring the future aspects of this trade. That $6.5M value wont stay. And if Jarry doesn’t play well enough to justify his cap hit, its still just wasted money.
I agree that for this year they risk this trade being a downgrade. In the sense of maximizing each of Sid’s last years to get another cup, I think it’s fair to not LIKE the trade, but if you don’t see why its not a BAD trade and significantly reduces risk the next 2 years to load up with youth AND FAs, then I don’t really know what to tell you.
And I can’t imagine Silovs has any real value at the moment.
We are sitting in a playoff spot. Playing good hockey. Well past Thanksgiving.
And we trade our best goalie (he’s been better than Murashov, even, despite the numbers) for a late second round pick.
Unless he has a sucker lined up to overpay for both Skinner and Kulak, this is just bizarrely stupid….?
The idea was to tank this year, wasn’t it? This is a good time to start sticking to that plan.
Skinner & Kulak both walk at the end of the year & EDM gets the privilege of paying Jarry $5.3 million per year for the next two years. I think that’s a win for PIT. (Unless you think they are somehow Cup contenders this year, which they are not.)
This team is not a real contender. Good enough to make the playoffs but not enough talent to scare anyone. This is about shedding Jarry’s contract to make room for Murashov and have the flexibility to infuse real talent onto the roster in the offseason. You could never feel good about this team’s prospects going to a season relying on Jarry.
You don’t understand; there’s no reward for Dubas to squeaking into the playoffs & extending the season by eight days. With a deep draft coming he’s wiser to position the club in a lottery spot where the luck of penguins seem to always be good. Don’t fret, Sid & Co will still be encouraged to go for it, but they’ll just not have Jarry to blame (either way).
Hurts a bit as the team has been delightful to watch this year, but it’s hard to envision this as a championship roster with Jarry earning $5.3M. Dubas kept his eye on the prize in this trade. They were willing to give him up for free, and two months of good play from a man who’s been as hot and cold as Jarry shouldn’t make you lose your mind.
That ship has sailed, Jolly Roger. Too late to tank our way to McKenna, who looks more like Lafreniere than Bedard as of now, anyway.
So we give up a playoff spot to finish with a 10th pick…for a late second…that’s literally the worst of all worlds and utterly moronic.
Could have just flipped Silovs and kept the good affordable tandem. Jarry’s and Murashov’s ages and contracts paired nicely.
A 10th is better than 15th. With Rust and Rakell gone, it could be a 5th.
Pursuading Crosby to go could land a top 3 for several years in a row. And eventually land a McD or a Drei, or even both.
Dubas at last is doing something useful.
Real rebuilds are not built off the backs of #10 or even #5 picks.
And pursuading the second best player ever who is playing his best (200 foot) hockey ever to go should not be the goal when he has 6 more good years in him.
Especially because the invented scenario (a top 3 pick for several years in a row) would mean we traded him to Buffalo and he agreed. Contenders have #30 picks to offer, not #3.
The Pens could have had Celebrini or Schaefer if they did decide to tank when they should have done. Or even both.
You may say it was unlikely, but they did land both Crosby and Malkin in the last rebuild.
Rebuilding without fully tanking is extremely difficult.
Milan Kraft was our number one center.
Rico Fata was our number two center.
Dick Tarnstrom was our top D man.
Our goalies were JS Aubin and Sebastien Caron.
THAT is what a tanking team looks like. That’s what it takes to land top 3 picks year after year.
We have Sid and until he got hurt Geno playing great hockey. Karlsson is playing the best I’ve ever seen him play (he’s found his own zone, FFS). Jarry was playing lights out even when we laid eggs in front of him.
Rebuilding without fully tanking is extremely difficult…which is why we should stop fooling ourselves. It looked briefly like we had a clear path to a lottery pick. Now we don’t.
Our path to the playoffs was much clearer than our path to franchise player in the draft and now we’re off both roads in the dirt.
So sell them all. You harped earlier about current value. 3 major assets go, huge stockpile accrued, rebuild in full swing. It’s now or in 2 years anyway.
There had to be a buyer for Silovs though. Edmonton didn’t want him. The oilers could’ve had Jarry for free 11 months ago. A late 2nd is a lot better than that.
Goals Saved Above Expected is not a good metric for the sake of comparison. It depends on the GP.
All of the metrics below are far better:
Goals Saved Above Expected per 60
% of Expected Goals Saved Above Average
Save % Above Expected
None of these metrics depends on GP.
Oilers might not be done with trades
We couldn’t trade our 2019 first round pick for a rental when our window was still open because…reasons.
Had to have that warm body to toss into a trade in 2025, after all.
ALWAYS max out your window. Empty the cupboard. Don’t listen to the goofy hoarders.
You are complaining about 2019 with regards to this trade ? Apples and oranges simply because Rutherford was GM then and Dubai is GM now tasked with cleaning up the mess that GMJR and Hextall made. You want to compare trades involving Pens goalies? How about GMJR throwing Gustavsson and a #1 in the deal to move Ian Cole and his contract to Ottowa for Vincent Dunn who never made it to the NHL. That deal was done in 2018. Gustavsson would have looked real good in the Penguins goal the last few years. That was maxing out the window?
WELL…except for the part were Derrick Brassard is a DOG, yeah…that’s what you do.
You max out when the window is open.
The mess? Two Cup banners, you mean?
I like both teams and I think/hope this might be a deal that works for both teams in the end. Skinner might recover without the overwhelming pressure (Pitts does nit have a goaltending problem if he doesn’t really) and Jarry has already had times where he performed great under pressure.
Oilers needed to something, just to change the narrative.
I will say that I do think Skinner has a chance (a chance) to rebuild his game in a lower pressure environment. I just don’t want to be the team that makes that bet.
Conversely…Jarry could crack under that same weight in EDM.
This could also work out to be a very bad trade for both teams.
IF he can be mentally tough enough, though, Jarry is talented and if he’s even decent, EDM has a real chance.
No, Skinner will do better than Jarry now. Jar-jar is cooked! Skinner will thrive!
Dubas made the correct call, Bowman will lose this trade and McD is a step closer to leaving the Oil.
There’s part of me that thinks this is a real possibility. I think Kulak is pretty underrated (don’t know his AAV tbh – but what I mean is he’s not flashy, and maybe he’s had a rough season so far (I don’t watch the oilers), but in those cups… he was very helpful. He’s fast and responsible, really good skater. I think Dubas did well with this..
I’m not sold on Jarry’s rebound or whether he’s “better” than Skinner and this could go south for EDM but I’ll give them credit for taking the chance. Their fans will be mad if they don’t win regardless but if they did nothing in net to even try I feel like they would have been more upset.
That’s a good way to put it. There was no perfect or safe upgrade to be made for them in net. They had to stick their neck out there with something.
Skinner didn’t have a $5.375M cap hit for two more seasons so there’s more risk with Jarry if he falters. But he’s the more talented goalie and you have to hope 2024-25 was just a blip.
Jarry spent 4 years in Edmonton in his WHL days so he’s familiar with the market. And he’s probably excited and motivated going to a Cup contender. Should be fascinating to see how this plays out.
I like this take too
When you make a plan, it’s important to stick to it.
Even if all of the facts, assumptions, circumstances and possible outcomes have changed, don’t let that stop you from sticking to the plan you decided on months ago.
Well said.
Crazy comeback story for Jarry. This is the guy who was placed on waivers twice last year
The Spencer Stastney acquisition was solid, As for the netminders involved, It’s a classic case of putting makeup on a pig, At the end of the day, It’s still a pig, Also, Stuart Skinner shouldn’t take all of the blame, The finger pointing should be distributed even in the case of the Oilers bad defense.
This is a good deal for the Penguins. Kyle Dubas adds a 2nd round pick, plus 2 expiring contracts that can be moved again at the TDL if he chooses for even more assets. PIT has all 3 retention spots available that could make the trades even better for them
Jarry and Skinner are very alike. Both can be good, both have been bad.
Difference is, for Pittsburgh they have two young goalies that they like in Murashov and Blomqvist and when faced with paying Jarry for 2 more years or paying Skinner for the rest of this year knowing you have two prospects you like…the decision is an easy one to make.
Lipstick on a pig
Wilf/Karen/Any Other Name You Are Using Around Here: you have recently told us that Alex Ovechkin is washed up and that Steve (4 Goals) Stamkos has nothing left in the tank. Might be time to step back from your player evaluation role.
What is a realistic return for Brett Kulak in a deadline trade?
I’m not sure this trade really helps Edmonton. Jarry has looked good for just over 1/3rd of a season. Skinner is extremely inconsistent but when he’s good he’s good. Jarry if he keeps playing as he has will provide some stability in net but if he regresses to last year then we traded a younger, better looking goalie who has a sweet stache for a more expensive version of what we already had plus gave up a decent 6/7 Dman (though he’s been awful this year) and a second rounder. Hope Jarry stands tall for EDM but otherwise we paid a high price to move laterally.
hopefully this will help edmonton solve their “wasting mcdavid years” problem
Are you even aware that the Oilers have played in the past two Cup finals? Maybe you are new to hockey.
Even McDavid would agree they were wasted since he has never won the Stanley cup. That’s why he wanted to know the plan going forward this year & why he only resigned for 3 years instead of a mega contract.
Are you aware that resign means to voluntarily give up your job or position with a company by telling them that you are leaving? It is impossible to resign for three years.
People seem to be missing why this is a terrible trade.
Dubas wanted to tank. OK, fine. It looked like we were the only ones trying to tank so that left a clear path to a lottery pick. OK, cool.
Then, he hired a really good coach and left the roster mostly intact. And that team has done it’s job. It has won hockey games. In fact, it has done so well, they are holding a playoff spot (in the weakest version of the East I have ever seen, a wide open lane).
But, rather than being clear eyed about where they are, it’s like he woke up from a nap, saw the standings and said “ooops, we forgot to tank” and then he kneecapped his own team.
If you want to tank, so be it…you trade everyone. You hire a bum coach like Edzo.
You don’t force good and proud players who are playing winning hockey for the first time in years to play losing hockey. You don’t poison your own culture.
THAT is how you end up like Buffalo.
There is no longer a path to McKenna, but a playoff spot was literally in hand and they threw it away to achieve nothing. Nothing. We’ll get a #9 pick instead of a #17, wow.
If you think that championship teams are built off the backs of #9 picks and a bunch of second rounders, put down the crayons and open a book on hockey history.
Now, IF the plan was to bring Murashov up and ride him and develop him and make him the guy because he’s the only one with a ceiling high enough to get them where they ultimately want to go, I might not agree (and think he needs more AHL time) but it would be a defensible strategy.
That does not appear to be the plan. He’s staying down there. The plan appears to be hoping that Skinner is as bad as Jarry was supposed to be and that that tanks us, as planned. For a #9 pick.
Despicable AND ineffective.