PROS: The pros for Binnington are pretty simple: he has a history of performing in big games. Everyone has last year’s 4 Nations Face Off fresh in their minds, where the Canadian netminder made a handful of remarkable saves in overtime against Team USA, allowing Canada to eventually win the game.

While his game certainly has its peaks and valleys, when he’s hot, he’s a very good goalie.

CONS: Everyone loves to point to his remarkable run to the Stanley Cup Final with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 and label him as a proven winner, but his next few playoff runs after that were really ugly. He lost 9 straight playoff games for the Blues after winning the Cup.

Again, it’s a consistency thing.

He’s really struggling this season, and I’m not sure if putting him in the pressure cooker that is the Edmonton market would bring out the best in him.

His $6 million cap hit also makes him pretty close to a non-starter. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense for the Blues to retain some of his salary unless the Oilers paid a pretty penny, and I don’t think the Oilers should be giving up anywhere close to a first-round pick for a goalie as inconsistent as Binnington.

He also has a no-trade clause that reportedly has the Oilers on it, so that’s another hurdle.

VERDICT: Is he better than what they have? Yes, but not by a wide enough margin that it guarantees moving off multiple pieces from the roster or trading multiple high-end assets to fit in his $6m cap hit.

PROS: Similar to Binnington, when Jarry is on, he’s really damn good. Before a disastrous 2024-25 season, he was on a run of five straight years with a .900 or better save percentage.

He’s been on deep playoff runs in the past with the Penguins, so he has some big game experience.

Unlike Binnington, Jarry is having an excellent season, ranking in the top half of the league when it comes to both traditional and underlying metrics.

Also, unlike the Binnington situation, the Penguins actually would likely be inclined to keep some money in this deal. With Artus Silovs currently on the roster and youngsters Joel Blomqvist and Segei Murashov currently sitting in the minors, the Penguins have too many goalies in their system.

You can see why the Penguins are letting teams know that they’ll listen to offers on their goaltenders.

CONS: Last year was really, really ugly. Jarry spent a considerable amount of time in the AHL as he struggled to find his game with the Penguins. There is a pretty low floor in his game.

The other thing here is the term attached to his deal. With two years remaining after this one, the Oilers are taking a risk on him not falling back to his previous level. If he comes to Edmonton and can’t handle the pressure, then they’re going to be stuck with him for two more seasons, and that’s a pretty scary thought when you consider the fact that Connor McDavid is only signed for three more years.

The risk comes when you look at the term on his deal and the low floor that exists in his game.

VERDICT: The only way I would do this deal is if the Penguins retained 50 percent of his salary, and unlike the Blues situation with Binnington, I think that’s a possibility when it comes to Pittsburgh and Jarry.

There was a general sense that the Penguins were considering buying out Jarry this past summer, but the price was too steep. Retaining 50 percent of his contract is a much better option for GM Kyle Dubas than potentially buying out Jarry this summer, and that’s why the Oilers should be interested.

If the Oilers feel like they can be patient, I think they should be watching the Laurent Brossoit situation in Chicago very closely.

Brossoit hasn’t played in basically a year and a half, but after finally finding the cause of his lower-body injuries, he had one final hip surgery and is apparently close to beginning a rehab assignment in the AHL.

The Blackhawks have both Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom on the roster, so when Brossoit is healthy, he’ll either have to go through waivers or the Blackhawks will have to trade him.

Keeping 50 percent of his $3.3 million cap hit is a much better deal for the Hawks than having him sit in the AHL, so there’s a chance that Brossoit is available at $1.75 million.

Other names like Cam Talbot could be on the market, but the general sense is that they won’t be truly available until much closer to the trade deadline, and I don’t think Stan Bowman has that much time to wait.

My prediction is that we’ll see a deal him make a deal sooner rather than later, and considering Edmonton’s cap situation, I feel like Jarry is a more likely move than Binnington.

If Bowman feels like he can wait until closer to Christmas, or can buy some time by giving Connor Ingram a look, then Brossoit would be very intriguing to me as well.

I also think there is a world where we have two new goalies in Edmonton at some point early in the new year.

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