Pickard made 26 saves and helped the Oilers weather a rocky start against the Seattle Kraken as Edmonton won its third game in a row and moved back into first place in the Pacific Division with a 4-2 victory in captain Connor McDavid’s return from a three-game suspension.

Calvin Pickard helped backstop the Oilers to a solid 4-2 victory over the Kraken last night, but his backup also got some attention.

Is there a team in the NHL making better use of $1 million than what the Edmonton Oilers are spending on Calvin Pickard? It’s hard to imagine that’s possible given that Edmonton’s backup goaltender is 9-1 in his last 10 games and already has more wins under his belt this year than half a dozen starters in this league.

With continuing speculation that the Oiles want to upgrade their goalie position prior to the trade deadline, Calvin Pickard shows once more what he can do.

Not exactly a masterpiece at Rogers Place on Monday night, but the Edmonton Oilers ’ mastery of the Seattle Kraken continued with an eighth consecutive victory for the blue and orange. As was the case in Seattle at the beginning of the month, the Oilers walked away with a 4-2 win, an emtpy-net goal sealing the deal in each instance.

The Edmonton Oilers may have some additional cap space to spend at the trade deadline, and with that, they should be considering adding to their goaltending - with one interesting option from Detroit available.

The Edmonton Oilers have announced that they've signed 21 year old University of Alberta goaltender Tyler Palmer to an amateur contract in order to back up starter Calvin Pickard tonight against the Seattle Kraken.

Tyler Palmer signed an amateur tryout deal and served as emergency backup for the Oilers Monday night in Edmonton.

The Edmonton Oilers have Connor McDavid back after a three-game suspension and, with that, came some pretty major line changes.

Between pipes against Canucks

Because a backup doesn't play every game they don't need to be game-breakers. They just need to come in and give their team the best chance to win. Luckily for the Oilers, Pickard has delivered that in spades. Despite the odd bad goal allowed, the Oilers have a really good goalie situation.

Draisaitl leads the league with 35 goals, while his 75 points on the year have him closing in on the only player with more, Nathan Mackinnon of the Colorado Avalanche (77). The fact he’s not even considered the Oilers’ best player is icing on Edmonton’s cake.