3 Goalies the Edmonton Oilers Should Pursue in the Offseason

The Edmonton Oilers’ goaltending search has been a roller coaster ride that’s spanned several years, and while Stuart Skinner often pulls you right back in after a rough stretch of play, they can’t continue to be fooled by his rope a dope act.

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He and Calvin Pickard might be loved inside the locker room, but there comes a point where a team led by a 28-year-old Connor McDavid and 30-year-old Leon Draisaitl has to do what’s in the best interest of winning a Stanley Cup—and in this case, that means acquiring a legitimate starting goalie.

Unfortunately for the Oilers and their fans, that might have to wait until the offseason when the salary cap picture clears up, and teams around the league are more willing to engage in blockbuster trade talks.

For now, the options are limited, especially given the financial constraints and lack of true upgrades available to target. That said, their patience could pay off, as they’ll be able to cast a much wider net this summer, and Stan Bowman’s reported willingness to be ultra-aggressive at that time should be music to the ears of Oilers nation.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at three trade targets Edmonton should pursue this offseason to put an end to its woes in net.

Juuse Saros

This feels like the best starting goalie the Oilers could realistically get in the summer. Saros has been labeled a dream target for Edmonton, and depending on how poorly the rest of the season goes in Nashville, he could very well be on the move as a part of their teardown.

His stats in recent years, along with the seven years remaining at $7.74 million after 2025-26, might scare some people, but it really shouldn’t. Let’s remember this is a bona fide star netminder who is a workhorse (55+ starts in 4 straight years), the type that rarely, if ever, becomes available, and with the rising salary cap, $7.74 million won’t cause anyone to bat an eye moving forward.

Not to mention, if his value stays the same as what it currently is or even goes down some, the Oilers would be landing Saros at a discount price compared to what he provides at his ceiling. This feels like the perfect and most realistic move for Stan Bowman to pounce on should it all line up the way it projects.

Jeremy Swayman

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and there’s been plenty of smoke around the Oilers’ interest in Swayman over the last few years.

After several fantastic seasons in tandem with Linus Ullmark in Boston, Swayman and the Bruins went through an ugly arbitration case, and followed it up with contentious contract negotiations that resulted in a last-minute eight-year, $66 million extension. Given that, their relationship is far from perfect, which led Edmonton to check in on his availability last offseason, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t do the same this coming offseason.

The 27-year-old has bounced back nicely thus far in 2025-26, though the Bruins weren’t expected to be a playoff team, and they very well could fall out of the race by the Spring, convincing the front office to keep selling off pieces for futures. It would likely come at a higher trade cost than that of Saros, but because of the age difference with Swayman (3.5 years younger), it might be worth the extra assets.

Ilya Sorokin

If you’re going to go all in, you might as well check in on everyone, and like Saros and Swayman, Sorokin has been connected to the Oilers in the past, though those rumors haven’t been quite as concrete.

The only reason for that chatter was his underwhelming play over the previous two seasons, which saw veteran Semyon Varlamov take control of the net at times as a result. Through 19 starts in 2025-26, Sorokin has been solid, but it still has yet to resemble the ridiculous numbers he put up to begin his NHL career, so it’s fair to wonder whether he’s untouchable or not.

Given his age (30) in comparison to the Islanders’ new young core centered around rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer, Sorokin is a much better fit for Edmonton’s timeline to win, so could a package of future assets to help build around Schaefer and others intrigue GM Mathieu Darche? It’s worth a try, especially now that Lou Lamoriello and the old regime, who were stuck in their own ways, are no longer in charge.

Fallback Options

Acquiring one of these three aforementioned netminders is much easier said than done, so if they aren’t plausible, what could the Oilers resort to?

Why not check in on the status of Anthony Stolarz or Joseph Woll? There are injury concerns, though perhaps they can factor that in to lower the acquisition cost.

Similarly, there’s the Thatcher Demko (also been hampered by injuries) and Kevin Lankinen tandem out in Vancouver, where the Canucks are open for business on everybody but Quinn Hughes… for now.

And if all of these options are sought out to no avail, then the Oilers can always circle back to a Jordan Binnington or Tristan Jarry, so ultimately, there’s no reason to leave the offseason empty-handed.

Next: Panarin’s Future & Latest NHL Trade Buzz: Canadiens, Oilers, Rangers