Just before the Edmonton Oilers began training camp for the 2024-25 season, we took a critical look at how the Oilers have handled Olivier Rodrigue, their 24-year-old goaltending prospect who has spent the last four seasons with the Bakersfield Condors in the American Hockey League (AHL).
To sum it up: the Oilers used a second-round draft pick (62nd overall in 2018) on Rodrigue and have spent years developing the netminder, presumably to be part of their future. Edmonton potentially has need for a backup goalie over the longer term, considering their current No. 2, Calvin Pickard, is 32 years of age and has a limited track record as a full-time NHLer. But Rodrigue has yet to play a single NHL regular season game, and after all they’ve invested in him, the Oilers could lose him in free agency next summer without having even given him a shot.
Rodrigue Gets Rare Opportunity
As fate would have it, not long after the aforementioned article was published, the door opened a crack for Rodrigue when Pickard left Edmonton’s game on Sept. 27 against the Seattle Kraken with an undisclosed injury. The goalie was hurt when teammate Noah Philp collided with him.
While Pickard is now back in practice and presumably will be ready to go when the Oilers begin their 2024-25 schedule with a home game against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 9, the veteran’s absence briefly bumped Rodrigue up to the role of Edmonton’s backup goalie, behind Stuart Skinner.
Rodrigue has never been this high on the depth chart before, even in the preseason. Through Thursday (Oct. 3), he had played the most of any goaltender in the NHL this preseason.
For the first time in his pro career, the backstopper from Quebec has an opportunity to show he belongs in the NHL. But he’s failed to seize the moment.
Rodrique Has Poor Preseason Stats
On Wednesday (Oct. 2), Rodrigue made his fourth appearance of the 2024 preseason, and got lit up in Edmonton’s 6-2 loss to Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The 6-foot-1 goalie played the entire game and was beaten six times on 24 shots. At one point, he allowed four goals in a span of less than 14 minutes during the second period.
This comes after Rodrigue was beaten three times on 22 shots in his most recent outing, when he took over for the injured Pickard last Saturday. Before that, in his previous start, he allowed five goals before getting the hook after 40 minutes against the Calgary Flames in a split-squad game on Sept. 23.
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All told, Rodrigue is 1-2 with a goals-against average (GAA) of 4.95 and a save percentage (SV%) of .808 in just over 180 minutes of play this preseason. Both numbers are the worst among all NHL goaltenders to play in at least two games during the 2024 exhibition schedule.
Suffice it to say, it’s been a tremendously disappointing couple of weeks for Rodrigue. His preseason got off to an ominous start when he was beaten on the very first shot the Oilers faced, 17 seconds into their Sept. 22 game against the Jets, and it hasn’t gotten much better since.
Rodrigue Might Not Be NHL Calibre
Can a player be fairly judged on just four preseason games? Of course not. But hockey isn’t always fair. This might be the best chance Rodrigue gets, and he’s done nothing to make the Oilers even think twice about rolling with Pickard as their No. 2.
The Oilers’ best goaltending decisions seem to be the ones they’re forced to make. Their All-Star starter, Skinner, only ascended to No. 1 status after Jack Campbell, Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen all failed in the role. Pickard, who was 12-7-1 with a 2.45 GAA and .909 SV% for the Oilers last season, wasn’t even on the Oilers’ roster until he was recalled from Bakersfield in November after Campbell’s game had completely gone to pieces.
It’s fair to question if Pickard is cut out for the No. 2 role on a permanent basis. Before playing in 23 regular season games for the Oilers last season, he was pretty much a full-time AHLer, having appeared in a total of just 30 NHL games, with four different teams, over the prior six seasons combined. Is the 32-year-old a late bloomer who just needed a chance? Or did he just catch lightning in a bottle for a few months with a very good Oilers squad last season?
If the former proves true, there could be a job opening in Edmonton for a backup goalie at some point in the coming season. Rodrigue, however, isn’t exactly polishing his resume.
Maybe what the Oilers have seen of Rodrigue this preseason is an accurate representation of his abilities. It could be that he just isn’t good enough for the NHL, and the AHL is where he belongs.
With Edmonton set to conclude its exhibition schedule tonight (Oct. 4) against the Canucks in Vancouver, Rodrigue has likely run out of time this preseason to demonstrate otherwise.
