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Oilers' Three-Goalie Gamble Carries a High Degree of Difficulty
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- Oilers' Three-Goalie Gamble Carries a High Degree of Difficulty
Edmonton enters training camp with an unusual crease arrangement: three legitimate NHL goaltenders, zero clear starter, and a coach who has to figure out the math in real time.
GM Stan Bowman confirmed the plan himself this offseason — Tristan Jarry, newly acquired Devon Levi, and free-agent signing Frederik Andersen will all open the season on the active roster. The challenge for Mike Babock becomes who to use and when.
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On paper, it's depth. In practice, it's a high-wire act. Most goalies don't like being part of a three-goalie system — and the coaches and players probably don't like it much either. Goalies aren't just competing for the net in games, but for quality reps in practice. There's an extra roster spot going to a guy who might not play many games. The players rarely know who they've got behind them, and there's the whole idea of rhythm and continuity. It can be practically non-existent with a rotating crease.
In the Oilers case, there's reason to believe it won't be as complex, but that won't make it easy.
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Andersen hasn't played more than 35 games in any of the past four seasons, and Jarry's track record is shaky — he finished last season with some of the league's worst goaltending metrics after a lower-body injury derailed his year. Levi, meanwhile, remains an unproven commodity at the NHL level despite strong save percentages in the AHL over the past three seasons.
None of the three is a lock for 40 starts.
Early workload estimates have Jarry around 30 games, Levi around 25, and Andersen around 29 — a split that only works if all three stay healthy and none of them clearly separates from the pack. If one gets hot, the math changes instantly, and someone becomes the odd man out heading into a playoff push. If that same player who gets hot suddenly goes cold, it might feel like the Oilers are starting from scratch trying to find a starter.
That's the actual degree-of-difficulty problem: it's not just managing three goalies, it's managing three different goalies — an aging veteran who needs rest, a reclamation project with a recent history of collapsing under starter workload, and a 24-year-old who's never handled an NHL job for a full year.
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If it clicks, Edmonton has genuine goaltending depth for the first time in years. If it doesn't, the same tired storyline resurfaces in April — a talented roster undone in net.
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