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Edmonton Oilers and Tristan Jarry trade chatter grabbed headlines this month. Now top NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed just how real the discussions became behind the scenes.
Speaking on Monday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman said Edmonton made a genuine push to explore a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The move was driven by a desire to upgrade one of the league’s most inconsistent goaltending tandems.
Friedman clarified that rumors of a completed trade with salary retention were inaccurate, but the substance of the story was not.
“I’ve since found out it wasn’t going to be Jarry for Skinner, it was going to be Jarry and Skinner, which, you know, …Oilers weren’t going to make a change in goal unless they really believe they could have improvement,” Friedman said. [32:30 onwards]
“And I think you would make an argument that a Skinner-Jarry combination, assuming both could stay healthy, it was an improvement, and they were hoping that that’s what they could do, and the two of them would push each other and force each other to become better. That was their goal.”
What ultimately stalled the talks was Pittsburgh’s firm refusal to retain any of Jarry’s salary. With two years remaining at just under $5.4 million, the cap hit was a barrier Edmonton couldn’t navigate.
“Now, what happened that has ended things for now is… the Penguins have made it very clear that if they were going to do this, there was going to be no retention,” Friedman said. “And if you’re an Oilers fan, you know, that that’s going to be very hard for them to do.”
Injuries, a tight cap, and a roster already stretched the Oilers to their limit, leaving no space for a sizable addition without subtracting meaningful assets. Friedman summed it saying that the Oilers want Jarry, and the idea of a tandem with Skinner appeals to them.
“So basically, where we are is, yes, they do like Jarry,” Friedman said. “Yes, they would love to have a Jarry Skinner combination, or like to have it. But no, they can’t do it in their present situation unless bodies go out. … Can it happen? Very, very hard and may not happen.”
However, unless Edmonton clears salary, cap reality makes the move extremely difficult.
Oilers’ struggle makes a Tristan Jarry trade plausible
The Edmonton Oilers’ 2025-26 season has recently witnessed an explosive offensive burst, but it is still overshadowed by defensive lapses and unsettled goaltending. The team has delivered dominant wins like a 9-4 win against Seattle and a 6-2 win against Winnipeg, but their start has been disappointing.
A major part of the struggle stems from underperformance in goal. Stuart Skinner, despite carrying the bulk of the workload, holds a save percentage below .900, making consistency difficult to maintain. Calvin Pickard has fared worse, with a 3-3-2 record and 4.04 goals against and an .851 save percentage, making him unreliable.
For now, the interest for Jarry is real, but the pathway is not. Edmonton sees him as an answer, yet the circumstances make the question much harder to solve.
Edited by Ankit Kumar
