2024-25 Edmonton Oilers player grades: Calvin Pickard

Pickard’s strengths

Over his two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Calvin Pickard has been a player who has been able to step up when the team has needed him most. For starters, Pickard played almost half of all Oilers’ regular season games last year with 36.

Just like the playoff run of the season prior, Pickard was able to reign in the Oilers’ goaltending woes and doing it even earlier this time around. Pickard would go on to play a big role on the Oilers’ team that went on yet another deep postseason run into June. Despite not possessing the strongest statistical numbers for his outings, his playoff record this season was a remarkable 7–1 and he surely showed some flashes of brilliance including in the overtime against the Florida Panthers.

In the locker room, Pickard has appeared to be nothing short of a supportive teammate to his younger counterpart, Stuart Skinner. As a 26-year-old, Skinner is still quite early in his goaltending career and having guidance from someone like Pickard has surely helped his development. In an interview prior to last season, Skinner has referred to Pickard as one of the best teammates and as a big brother. It seems safe to say that Pickard has contributed positively to Skinner’s ongoing player development.

Pickard’s weaknesses

While his playoff record was very impressive this season, his statistical performances both in regular season and in the playoffs are unfortunately less eye-catching. His goals against average (GAA) and save percentage during the playoff run were 2.85 and .886, respectively.

Pickard does not have the best crease mobility and his performance can certainly be seen as inconsistent at times. While he has shown that he can go on to make spectacular saves in playoff overtime, he can also, unfortunately, give up weak regular season goals that he likely should have had.

Pickard’s performance review

Pickard’s overall performance last year was fairly respectable. Sure, his statistical play looked worse across a larger span of games as compared to previous season. However, Pickard has shown yet again that he has those intangible qualities, notably the ability to step into big pressure moments and more times than not, deliver for his team.

Overall Letter Grade: B+

As a 33-year-old goaltender with a career role largely relegated to a back-up, Pickard has proven that he can still steal a game and step-up for a team when they need him. While he may not be the best back-up goaltender in the league and despite his inconsistent play at times, the fact that he has been able to help the Oilers get back on track for a second consecutive playoff run deserves a ton of recognition, especially when you are not looked upon as a starting goalie.

Expectations for the future

After much speculation around the Oilers and their goaltending heading into the next season, it seems that the tandem of Skinner-Pickard is set to remain in place (at least for now). This means that Pickard, who will be entering the final year of his contract, will likely remain the Oilers’ back-up barring any further roster changes.

If that indeed becomes the case, don’t be surprised if Calvin Pickard yet again finds a way to create some playoff magic should the team need him to do so.