Oilers Trade Stuart Skinner to the Penguins for Tristan Jarry
The Pittsburgh Penguins traded goaltender Tristan Jarry and minor-league forward Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round draft pick.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It figures that the biggest trade thus far of this regular season occurs when I’m out Christmas shopping.
The main components of this deal are the goaltenders. Jarry and Skinner frequently surfaced in trade rumors in the past, but it was only recently that speculation emerged suggesting they be swapped for each other.
Edmonton Oilers trade Stuart Skinner to the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL Images).
Skinner backstopped the Oilers to consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2024 and 2025. However, his inconsistent play became an issue too big to ignore, especially with the Oilers struggling to stay in the Western Conference playoff race. He is in the final season of a three-year contract with an average annual value of $2.6 million, and is eligible for unrestricted free-agent status next July.
Jarry had been the Penguins’ starter since 2021-21. Like Skinner, inconsistency plagued his performance, partly because of injuries. He was waived last January and briefly spent time with their AHL affiliate before returning with a solid effort down the stretch. He’s under contract through 2027-28 with an AAV of $5.375 million.
There was no salary retention by either side in this deal.
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said he felt it was time for something different between the pipes. Time will tell if swapping one erratic starting netminder for another leads to significant improvement for his club.
The Oilers include Kulak in this deal to balance out the salary-cap dollars. He’s a good defensive blueliner, but was struggling a bit this season in Edmonton. He carries a $2.75 million cap hit. Like Skinner, he is UFA-eligible next July.
The Penguins could emerge as the winners in this deal. Moving out Jarry without having to retain any of his salary is a win in itself.
Skinner could fit in well alongside promising Arturs Silovs, allowing them to give Sergei Murashov more seasoning with their farm team. Moving away from the harsh spotlight in Edmonton could do him good.
If Skinner plays well, he could be an affordable re-signing for the Penguins. If he intends to test the market next summer, they could peddle him elsewhere at the March trade deadline for a decent return. The same goes for Kulak.
Skinner joins Marner in the whipping boys club. Who is Toronto and Edmonton going to blame now?
Their GMs?
Skinner is not the whipping boy in edm. That has been passed from Nurse to Bouchard.
Sieve for sieve deal. Zero upgrade either way.
change for change sake,both are inconsistent goalies. now EDM adds 2x years @ 2x the cap hit for a similar inconsitent goalie. Lets see what Connor makes out of this
Exactly, mikep. What it boils down to is, two teams moving out goalies who, although having played very well over stretches, are prone to inconsistency, in the hope that the proverbial “change of scenery” might make a positive difference over longer stretches.
Kulak and his $2.75 mil per cap hit was included to make the money work.
If it doesn’t work out as planned, at least the Penguins only have this year’s cap hit of $2.6 mil for Skinner, at the end of which he is a UFA. The Oilers, on the other hand, have Jarry and his $5,375,000 per for 2 more seasons after this. If it doesn’t work in his case … then what?
As an Oilers fan, I’m one of the rare ones that never blamed Skinner. The defense in front of him was always playing like crap this season and I will always remember him as the one that stoned Dallas for 2 consecutive seasons. Our team just simply couldn’t solve Bobrovsky. As far as I’m concerned, I feel that this trade is as bad as Chiraelli trading Strome for Spooner. Unless if Jarry plays lights out and help backstop the Oilers to the Stanley Cup, I’d say we’d be lucky to get past the second round in the playoffs.
If we don’t get to the finals again this year, I honestly think Bowman should be fired for this blunder.
I agree with Brian’s suggestion that Bowman should be fired even if the Oilers do not make it to the finals. In fact, they may not even make it to the post season based on their erratic play to date.
From day one, I seriously questioned the hiring of Bowman who has a legacy of making poor trades.
Bad judgement on many levels over the years, he inherited a Stanley Cup winner in Chicago when he took over the GM position from Dale Talon at the time… in the right place at the right time.
That being said, the Oiler organization has become a graveyard for GMs, goalies and coaches.
I agree with Brian when he made the Chiarelli comparison. Seems like a panic move. Risky as F.
Should have kept Holland. Had his warts and made mistakes like all GM’s, but they improved greatly over his term.
Hey, if it works out and they hoist the cup, they will point to this trade, and I am for sure not a tender expert, but I would hope he consulted with one.
The Kulak loss might haunt them, the guy played really well over each of the last 2 playoffs. He played the 2nd most minutes of any Oiler D-man last year in the post season, and they made it to the finals. That doesn’t happen without quality play.
Who’s taking his spot?