Oilers place goaltender Calvin Pickard on NHL waivers

Last week, Pickard talked about the difficulty he found being the No. 3 in Edmonton.

“It’s been tough,” Pickard told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. “It’s been painful, for sure.

“I don’t like it. I’m not having fun with it, but I’m still coming to work every day, working hard… Because you never know what’s going to happen. I have to be ready for my next opportunity.”

Pickard first joined the organization as a free agent in July 2022, signing a two-year, $762,500 AAV contract. He spent the 2022-23 season with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, posting a 23-12-2 record, a .912 save percentage and a 2.70 goals against average.

But after just four AHL games in the 2023-24 season, he was called up to the Oilers, who had just placed Jack Campbell on waivers. After Pickard arrived, he didn’t look back, going 12-7-1 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.45 goals against average that season. He drew in for three playoff games, too, offering relief for Stuart Skinner against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round, posting a 1-1 record, a .915 save percentage and a 2.21 goals against average.

Pickard had a strong 2024-25 campaign for the Oilers, with a 22-10-1 record and a .900 save percentage. He had a 67.7 quality stat percentage, and was nothing short of stellar when he got into games for the Oilers. He wound up with a larger runway in the playoffs, appearing in 10 games, starting seven and posting a stellar 7-1 record, despite his save percentage dipping to a .886.

Things had falled off the rails for Pickard this season, notching a 23.1 quality start percentage, and his win-loss record falling significantly from where it was before. His last game came on Jan. 8th against the Winnipeg Jets, a game the Oilers won 4-3.