EDMONTON — Anxious to put last season’s struggled in the rear-view mirror, goaltender Tristan Jarry spent the summer preparing for what he and the Edmonton Oilers hope is a positive bounce-back season. The Oilers have seven goaltenders in camp, but when the season begins Sept. 29, Jarry will be the main man in net. He’ll be backed by Devon Levi who was obtained in an off-season trade with Buffalo Sabres but has played only 39 NHL games over four seasons. Frederik Andersen was projected as the No. 1 starter when he was signed as a free agent in July after leading Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup title. However, he is still recovering from a knee injury suffered during those playoffs. The Oilers expect him to return in late October. Jarry had a strong start last season with Pittsburgh Penguins but after being traded to Edmonton on Dec. 12 he played only three games before suffering a lower-body injury and missing almost a full month. “And when he came back, he never found his game,” general manager Stan Bowman said at training camp. “And our team didn’t really play great in front of him either, so it was somewhat of the worst circumstances. “At that time of the year it’s tough to gain your confidence after you’ve missed some time, you’ve come back, you haven’t played your best the first couple of games when he returned from injury. And from that point forward, it never came together for him.” Bowman said Jarry worked hard all summer and came into camp in excellent form. “He’s setting himself up in the best way possible to bounce back,” Bowman said. “And we’re confident and hopeful that will happen.” Jarry played in 19 games for the Oilers last season, posting a 9-6-2 record with one shutout and a 3.86 goals-against average. “Obviously, last year didn’t go the way that I wanted. I think it’s just a confidence thing, knowing after what happened and how it did,” Jarry said of his season and the injury. “It was just having the confidence … and knowing that it’s not going to happen again.” While the Oilers are counting on Jarry to carry the load to start the season, the team is looking at going with three goalies once Anderson returns. “That’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment,” said Jarry. “It’ll be a great challenge for the three of us to be our best every night. To be able to manager those days when you’re not playing, to when you are playing, that’ll be the situation that you have to excel in. “Obviously you want the best goalie in the net every night … because every night we want to have a chance to win and whichever goalie is doing that I think should have the net.” Jarry had a taste last season of how critical of goaltenders Edmonton fans and the media have been over the last many years, even after Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard backstopped the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup final appearances. “There’s obviously a lot of pressure, but there’s a lot of pressure everywhere,” said Jarry. “To be able to play for this team, with these players, and hopefully go a long way and be that last team playing in June, that’s your goal. To be the goalie for that, it would be something special.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2026. John Korobanik, The Canadian Press
