Trade Grades: Oilers Land Tristan Jarry and Spencer Stastney

Jarry has had a bounce-back season thus far, posting a 9-3-1 record to go with a 2.66 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage, and one shutout in 13 starts. The 30-year-old is in the third season of the aforementioned five-year, $26.875 million extension he signed with the Penguins back in 2023.

Meanwhile, in the smaller secondary move, Edmonton coughed up a 2027 third-round pick in exchange for Spencer Stastney, who will likely assume Kulak’s role on the left side of the bottom defense pairing.

Stastney, 25, has produced nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 30 games played this season, and is in the second year of the two-year, $1.65 million extension he inked with the Predators in 2024.

Now that we’ve got all of the details from this flurry of activity, it only makes sense to dive into some trade grades.

Tristan Jarry for Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak, and a Second

Edmonton: C+

This is a risky move for the Oilers, there’s no doubt about it. While Jarry has played like the two-time All-Star he is so far this season, the sample size is small at just 14 games, and we can’t forget that he struggled so mightily that he was in the AHL just one year ago. Stan Bowman spoke with the media after the trade on Friday and said, ” … we wanted to see how he started this year and we watched them very closely. We’ve been impressed with his performance over the course of his career. I think he’s shown to be a very solid goaltender. A lot of the metrics that we track, he’s been very good on those for many years and a large sample size.”

Bowman added, “It’s not so much a comment on the Stuart Skinner, it’s just really maybe time for something different here, but I think we want to make sure that the person we were bringing in we felt confident when you know the fact that he’s got two more years on his contract.” He noted that the idea that they have their starter over the next three playoff runs was a big part of the trade. “I think it’s important knowing he is signed and it’s a number that we’re going to fit well in our salary cap over the coming couple of seasons.”

Not getting Dubas to retain any money is also a tough pill to swallow, especially since it prevented them from keeping Skinner to roll in tandem with Jarry, so the crease is now all his in Edmonton.

Jason Gregor said it best: Jarry has higher upside than Skinner, and they will need him to play to that potential in order for this trade not to blow up in their face. If he is consistent and stays healthy, then Edmonton might have finally found the starting goalie it’s desperately been searching for, but that’s a big if, and it certainly doesn’t come without some question marks.

Pittsburgh: A-

There’s not much to dislike from the Penguins’ perspective when it comes to this trade. Jarry has been extremely inconsistent and injury-prone over the last several years, and prior to his strong start to 2025-26, shedding his full salary would have been impossible.

That being said, he has been a catalyst in their success thus far and a huge factor in why they currently sit in the playoff picture, so in the here and now, this does hurt their push for the postseason.

Sidney Crosby and the veterans may not be fond of the move, but as the Penguins continue their rebuild, this is par for the course, acquiring another second-round draft pick and two expiring contracts that could very well be flipped at the deadline for more future assets.

Spencer Stastney for a Third

Edmonton: B

Knowing that they were going to have to include Kulak in the Jarry trade, Stan Bowman was forced to find a cheap left-shot defenseman to fill the void, which they hope Stastney can do.

The fifth-round pick (131st overall) from 2018 only has 81 games of NHL experience under his belt, though he’s been a regular on the Predators’ blue line this season and has been steady in the process.

A third-round pick is not nothing for a team that’s dealt away plenty of draft capital over the years as they compete for the Stanley Cup, but Nashville had all the leverage here, so Edmonton really didn’t have much of a choice.

As they did by waiving Troy Stecher to allow young bodies in Ty Emberson and Alec Regula more opportunity, the Oilers go with the youth and upside of Stastney over Kulak.