Entering the new NHL season, the Edmonton Oilers are set between the pipes, where the duo of Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner will tag-team again in 2023-24. This will be the netminders’ second season together in Edmonton. Last year they ushered in a new era of goaltending for the Oilers, who were moving on from three seasons of the Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith tandem.
Campbell joined the Oilers when he signed a five-year contract worth a total of $25 million in July 2022. The former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie had a very poor start to his Edmonton tenure but improved as the season wore on.
After a year of shuttling back and forth between the Oilers and the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL), Skinner became a permanent NHLer in 2022-23 and had one of the Oilers’ great rookie seasons, with a Calder Trophy nomination and All-Star Game selection.
While it’s up for debate which of the two goalies is Edmonton’s starter, both have firmly established spots on the NHL roster. But beyond Campbell and Skinner, the organizational depth chart features a very interesting collection of netminders, including the newest addition, Nathaniel Day, who Edmonton drafted in 2023.
The majority of these masked men might never play a regular season game for the Oilers, but there could also be a pivotal player among them. After all, it was just two seasons ago that Skinner was biding his time in the AHL, stuck behind Koskinen and Smith. Now the 24-year-old could be a big reason that Edmonton finally realizes its Stanley Cup aspirations. With that in mind, here’s a look at Edmonton’s goalies beyond the NHL.
Calvin Pickard
The Oilers brought in Calvin Pickard to be their third-string goalie, and he filled that role perfectly, even if he didn’t actually play a single minute in the NHL during the 2022-23 season.
After signing a two-year, two-way contract with the Oilers last July, Pickard saw all his action in the AHL. He posted a 23-12-2 record in 38 appearances for the Condors while leading Bakersfield with a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.70 and a save percentage (SV%) of .912.
A veteran of 116 career NHL games, the 31-year-old Pickard provides veteran experience that Bakersfield’s younger goalies can learn from. He remains fully capable of filling in with the Oilers should Campbell or Skinner be sidelined.
Olivier Rodrigue
On the heels of his best campaign as a pro, Olivier Rodrigue was signed on July 4 by the Oilers to a one-year, two-way contract extension with an average annual value (AAV) of $775,000 at the NHL level.
For the first time since concluding his junior career in 2020, Rodrigue had a genuinely encouraging season, appearing in 29 games with the Condors in 2022-23 and setting pro career highs with 14 wins, 2.77 GAA, and .912 SV%.
Could 2023-24 be the season that Rodrigue realizes the potential Edmonton envisioned when it selected him in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft? The 23-year-old should play more minutes in Bakersfield as the Oilers gauge whether they have a future NHLer on their hands.
Ryan Fanti
The 2022-23 season was Year 1 of a two-year contract Ryan Fanti signed with the Oilers in March 2022 after helping the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs win the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoff title.
Fanti, who turns 24 on Oct. 3, spent much of his first pro season in the ECHL, going 15-16-1 with a 3.49 GAA and .894 SV% for the Fort Wayne Komets. He also saw action in eight AHL games with the Condors, going 0-5-1 with a 3.71 GAA and a .884 SV%.
Just as with Rodrigue, the Oilers should want Fanti to get more opportunities, in the interest of his development and determining where or if he fits in their future. With Pickard and Rodrigue in Bakersfield, he will likely make most of his starts in the ECHL again this season.
Samuel Jonsson
The Oilers have to be pleased with the progress Samuel Jonsson has made since they drafted the Swedish netminder 158th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Related: Oilers: Catching Up With Edmonton’s 2022 Draft Class
Jonsson’s numbers in the J20 Nationell, Sweden’s top junior hockey league, improved significantly from 2021-22 (9-20, 3.25 GAA, .883 SV%) to last season (13-14, 2.65 GAA, .902 SV%) and were even better during the 2023 Playoffs (6-0, 2.09 GAA, .927 SV%) when he backstopped Rogle BK to the league gold medal.
The 6-foot-2 goalie’s future is still wide open. Jonsson will be 20 in December, and he’s not yet signed with the Oilers.
Nathaniel Day
Selected 184th overall by the Oilers last month, Nathaniel Day is very much a long-term prospect. The Flint Firebirds goaltender only turned 18 in February and has played just 40 games in his Ontario Hockey League (OHL) career.
His numbers (3.91 GAA and .874 SV% in 32 appearances last season) don’t impress, but Day showed enough potential to be 12th among North American goaltenders in the NHL Central Scouting’s Final Rankings ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft.
The 2023 Elite Prospects Draft Guide provided some insight, praising Day for his patience and attention to detail while noting that he “may be one of the biggest wildcard goaltenders available in the 2023 NHL Draft”.
Last season Day split the Firebirds’ goaltending duties with St. Louis Blues prospect Will Craney. Cranley has now aged out, meaning Day will be the starter in Flint in 2023-24. He will be a very interesting prospect to follow this coming season, just as will every other goalie in the Oilersphere, from junior all the way up to the bright lights of the NHL.
