Oilers acquire goalie Tristan Jarry in trade for Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak

The Edmonton Oilers have parted ways with Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak, and Tristan Jarry will be Edmonton's new starting goalie.

The Edmonton Oilers have traded goalie Stuart Skinner and defenceman Brett Kulak to the Pittsburgh Penguins for goaltender Tristan Jarry and left-shot forward Samuel Poulin.

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Jarry – a Surrey, B.C., native, former Edmonton Oil King, and 2014 Memorial Cup champion – was the Penguins’ second-round selection and 44th pick overall in the 2013 NHL Draft, and was named an NHL All-Star in 2020 and 2022.

He has a 9-3-1 record this season, as well as a 2.66 goals-against average (GAA) and .909 save percentage (SV), a performance Oilers general manager (GM) Stan Bowman said solidified his decision to initiate the trade.

“Tristan’s had a really consistent performance as a pro, really up until last season, so that was certainly something we looked into and wanted to see how he started this year,” Bowman told reporters on Friday, referring to the 30-year-old being placed on waivers and being sent to the American Hockey League earlier this year.

“We’ve watched him very closely and we’ve been impressed with his performance over the course of his career. I think he’s shown to be a very solid goaltender. A lot of metrics we track, he’s been very good on those for many years and in a large sample size.”

He also called the two years left on Jarry’s contract, worth $5.375 million, attractive.

“So we have our goalie for the next three playoff runs, which I think is important, knowing that he is signed and it’s a number that we’re going to be able to manage well in our salary cap over the coming couple seasons.”

Jarry will take the net for the Oilers on Saturday in Toronto.

Bowman added the trade is “not so much a comment on Stuart Skinner. It’s really just maybe time for something different here.”

Skinner is in the final season of a three-year, $7.8-million contract. He was the Oilers’ third-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and has served as the team’s starting goalie since 2022-23, including in the last two Stanley Cup Finals. This season, he has a 2.83 GAA and .891 SV.

Both he and Kulak are from the Edmonton area – Skinner from the Alberta capital and Kulak from Stony Plain, west of the city.

Kulak wasn’t a planned part of the deal, according to Bowman.

“We certainly weren’t trying to trade Brett Kulak. He’s a great person and a great player on our team. We’re going to miss him. But in order to make the transaction work … that had to be part of it,” the GM said.

However, the 31-year-old Kulak is in the last year of his contract and six years older than Spencer Stastney, who the Oilers acquired from the Nashville Predators by giving up a third-round selection in the 2027 draft.

Another leftie, Stastney has recorded one goal and eight assists this season. He’s been with the team for four seasons, averaging 14:52 on ice this season. He was the Predators’ fifth-round selection in 2018.

“(He’s a) very similar style player, I think,” Bowman commented. “The thing we’ve liked about Stastney is his excellent mobility. He’s a great skater, a lot of quickness, and he’s been very effective on the penalty kill. And he’s got some offence to his game, as well. I think he really hasn’t reached his true potential yet.”

Now, four of the Oilers’ defencemen are in their prime years, he added.

“It’s different than having a vet back there, but we obviously still have (Darnell) Nurse, (Jake) Walman and (Evan) Bouchard. So we’ve got some younger guys we’re working in. I think once we give them the opportunity, they can show us that they can make a difference in our lineup.”

The deal with Pittsburgh includes left-shot forward Samuel Poulin for the Oilers’ second-round draft selection in 2029.

The 24-year-old from Quebec, who was picked by the Penguins in the first round of the 2019 draft and has spent the last five years in the AHL, will head straight to Bakersfield.

“He’s a big kid with skill,” Bowman said. “He’s at that age where guys hopefully can take that next step and become an NHL player.”

With files from TSN

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