Edmonton headed into the 2025/26 season off the back of back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing on both occasions to the Florida Panthers. And while those losses seemingly motivated the Oilers to finally end their 26-year drought throughout the course of the regular season, the playoffs would have a miserable end.
Dumped out by Anaheim in the first round. Beaten in six games by a Ducks roster built around a dozen players under 25, most of them making their NHL playoff debuts. Before the handshake line had even cleared the ice at the Honda Center after Game 6 on April 30th, the question was already forming inside every corner of Oilers Nation: Who is actually going to start in goal for Edmonton next October?
Firstly, online betting sites have a question of their own they’re trying to answer. Which of the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche will win the Stanley Cup? One look at the latest odds from 5Gringos online sportsbook shows that the race for the Cup in 2026 is well and truly a two-horse race. The Avs are positioned as a +130 favourite, while the Canes are a +160 second-favourite. The best the chasing pack can muster up is the +650 Vegas Golden Knights.
Edmonton’s Goaltender Room
For the Oilers, however, all the focus is now on next season and particularly who’s going to start between the pipes. Edmonton carries three goaltenders on the books heading into this offseason — Tristan Jarry, acquired mid-season; Connor Ingram, brought over from Utah last October; and Calvin Pickard, still drawing a paycheque — without a clear long-term answer among them.
Ingram deserves genuine credit. The 29-year-old outperformed Jarry down the stretch and actually backstopped the Oilers to a Game 1 win against Anaheim — so he’s not the problem. His previous deal sat at $1.95M AAV, and The Athletic has noted he “shouldn’t cost a large amount in free agency.” Re-signing him makes sense on the surface; the complication is that a bidding war could push his price into territory that strains cap flexibility the Oilers don’t have to spare. And if Stan Bowman goes hunting for a legitimate starter via trade, Ingram’s path back to Edmonton becomes considerably less certain.
Against that backdrop, three names have emerged as potential trade targets. Here’s how realistic each one actually is.
Mackenzie Blackwood – Colorado Avalanche
The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell has specifically named Colorado’s Mackenzie Blackwood as a goaltender Bowman may pursue — and that detail matters more than any rumour-mill speculation, because Mitchell has the sourcing. The 29-year-old is now regarded around the NHL as a legitimate No. 1 after a disappointing stint in San Jose gave way to a revival in Denver as he posted solid numbers of 23-10-2, 2.50 GAA, .904 SV% across 39 games, earning him a share of the Jennings Trophy alongside Scott Wedgewood as part of the league’s stingiest defensive unit. His underlying numbers in 2024-25 were similarly impressive — fifth in NHL SV% and eighth in GAA among goaltenders with at least 35 appearances.
The trade case is built around Colorado’s own roster inefficiency — the kind Bowman has to be watching closely. Scott Wedgewood, earning a fraction of Blackwood’s $5.25M AAV, started all seven Avalanche playoff games before Blackwood was needed in relief, and even then, the former Barrie Colts youngster was pulled at the end of the first period of Game 5 after allowing three goals.
When a team’s preferred playoff starter isn’t the guy earning $5.25M, something has to give. That’s the opening Bowman should be walking through. A trade package built around a mid-round pick and a secondary prospect — with Colorado absorbing some cap awkwardness — isn’t a fantasy.
Filip Gustavsson – Minnesota Wild
Widely regarded as a top-10 goaltender in the NHL, Filip Gustavsson is the Minnesota Wild’s unquestioned franchise starter — and the dream acquisition for any contender short in goal. The 27-year-old Swede signed a five-year, $34M extension ($6.8M AAV) in October 2025 that kicks in from 2026-27, meaning any trade conversation involves committing to that long-term deal through 2031. But despite the costly finances involved with such a deal, the appeal for Edmonton is obvious.
Gustavsson would be the best goaltender the Oilers have iced in decades — a legitimate No. 1 in his prime years, giving superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl exactly what this window demands. Can Edmonton win a Stanley Cup with a question mark in goal? The last three seasons unequivocally say no, and the big Swede would remove that question entirely.
But the price Minnesota would demand for a 27-year-old locked up at a fair rate is enormous — first-round picks, top-end prospects, or some creative multi-team structure that Edmonton’s depleted cupboard almost certainly can’t support. Without an inventive package, this remains a long shot.
Juuse Saros – Nashville Predators
The most complicated name on this list, and the one that requires the most sober assessment. Juuse Saros is a perennial starter with genuine pedigree — but the 30-year-old Finn has endured two straight difficult seasons that have raised real questions about whether his best hockey is behind him. In 2025-26: 22-18-6, 3.18 GAA, .892 SV% across 47 games — poor for any starting goalie, let alone one earning $7.74M annually through 2033.
Nashville’s rebuilding situation keeps Saros’ name in circulation — the Predators could theoretically look to move his contract and inject youth, and Edmonton’s desperation for a No. 1 keeps them lurking in conversations like this. But acquiring a goaltender at $7.74M AAV through 2033 who has shown back-to-back seasons of decline would be an enormous gamble — one that could cripple cap flexibility and handcuff this franchise into the 2030s. Despite the name-value, this one looks like too big a risk to take.
