The Edmonton Oilers could use a little boost. Despite being one point out of the final Western Conference Wild Card position, the Oilers haven’t had a great start to the season. Could the addition of a Juuse Saros change their fortunes?
One NHL insider believes the Oilers need to consider adding the superstar goaltender to their roster. This insider isn’t the first hockey analyst to put Saros on the team’s radar.
Saros was drafted by the Nashville Predators in 2013. He owns a career 2.69 goals against average (GAA) and a .914 save percentage (SV%).
Oilers Urged to Trade For Juuse Saros
NHL insider, Jeff Marek, made an appearance on the Oilersnation Everyday podcast. On the podcast, Marek said that if the Predators continue losing, GM Barry Trotz should be compelled to have a conversation with Saros.
“I know the contract is lengthy and it’s not small, but if you’re not talking about looking at Juuse Saros, then what are we doing here?” Marek said in a clip shared on November 6, 2025. “You can’t ask a player to go through two rebuilds. And if this is the (way) Nashville is going to go, I would expect that Barry Trotz would have that conversation with Juuse Saros. Look, this is the direction we’re going to go. We tried, we loaded up… and it didn’t work.”
“You’re not in a place right now where you got to worry about ‘what’s that’s going to look like in four years’. You just need to think about the next game and the next round of playoffs, if you’re the Edmonton Oilers.”
Saros is in the first year of an eight-year, $7.74 million-per-season extension.
Saros is a ‘Pipe Dream’ Goalie for the Oilers
Another NHL analyst linked the Oilers to Saros. Daily Faceoff scribe Matt Larkin described Saros as a “pipe dream” trade target for the Oilers. He also wrote that the Predators would only consider trading Saros if the season was lost.
“Call it a hunch that a Predators fire sale looms,” Larkin wrote on October 23, 2025. “They opened last season with five consecutive losses and have dropped five of seven to begin 2025-26. The vultures will circle GM Barry Trotz, first swooping around the more attainable veteran pieces such as Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly, but perhaps inquiring about core players like Filip Forsberg at some point as well. Would Nashville ever consider moving Saros, who has a full no-movement clause and is just commencing an eight-year contract?”
“Picture a scenario in which Nashville goes full scorched-earth and starts over. Would Saros and Trotz at least be open to a conversation about it?”
In 13 games, Saros has five wins, a 2.88 GAA, and a .902 SV%. Additionally, he has 2.8 goals saved above expected (GSAx), according to MoneyPuck.
Where the Oilers Goalies Rank in the League
To get a complete sense of where Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard rank, we’ll compare their stats to the league average for the 2025-26 season.
Skinner, 27, has four wins, one shutout, a 2.54 GAA, and a .899 SV% in 10 games. He also owns a 3.5 GSAx. Conversely, Pickard, 33, has two wins, a 3.42 GAA, and an .850 SV% in five games. Pickard has a -3.9 GSAx.
HockeyReference displays the league average statistics for several goaltending metrics over the years. For the current season, the league average GAA is 2.87, with the average SV% being .897. Overall, goaltending performance has declined this year. The league average SV% is below .900 for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
Judging from those statistics alone, Skinner is above average in both, while Pickard is significantly lower.
Looking at the NHL, only 27 goalies who have played at least four games have a GAA better than the 2.87 league average. Saros sits just outside of that with 2.88 GAA. Additionally, 28 goaltenders have an SV% that is the same or better than the .897 league average. Saros sits at a .902 SV%.
One way or another, Saros would be a significant improvement on Pickard. He has a long history of excellent play and could provide the Oilers with a unique 1A/1A tandem scenario.
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