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.
In a position where some teams throw their guy in and hope for the best while preparing for the worst, Pickard’s 13-4 record inspires confidence in Edmonton from the locker room to the stands at Rogers Place.
When you put him in there you know what you’re getting.
“He’s been a rock,” said Oilers veteran Corey Perry. “He goes in there and he plays hard, he gives us a chance to win each and every night.
“He has a tough assignment, coming in every few games and being ready to play. He’s a true professional. He does it every game and we have all the confidence in the word in him.”
Monday night against Seattle, with Stuart Skinner sitting back at home after the birth of his family’s second child, Pickard stepped into his unscheduled start and knocked it out of the park, stopping 26 of 28 shots in a first-star effort against the Seattle Kraken.
“I knew it was close to kid time for him,” laughed Pickard. “I got a text that he was heading to the hospital (Sunday) night, so I went to bed preparing to play. It felt like a similar game day to the rest of them. It was nice, a good win.”
On a night when the Oilers were far from their best and served up more than enough chances for the Kraken to steal an upset, Pickard saved their bacon.
“Picks made some huge saves at the end to keep us in it, and especially for us to take the lead in the second period,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “He made a couple big saves and we go down there and score shortly after that.”
Pickard, if you remember, was slipping into the role of career minor leaguer when he got called up by the Oilers last season. Languishing in Detroit’s AHL affiliate, he played just three NHL games in 2021-22, six games in 2020-2021 and three games in 2019-20.
Before that it was Arizona (six games), Philadelphia (11), Toronto (one).
A regular NHL gig was fading into the horizon — right about the same time the Oilers were looking for somebody to fill that position here.
With Jack Campbell sent to Bakersfield to sort things out early last season, the Oilers needed somebody to fill the temporary void and brought Pickard up for a cup of coffee.
Campbell never sorted things out and Pickard’s been here ever since — 23 starts and a .909 save percentage last season and 19 games and counting this year.
‘He’s always getting the job done’
With Edmonton wanting to ease Skinner’s workload so he will be fresher for the playoffs, Pickard’s play is allowing them to do it without having to sacrifice wins.
Players who haven’t been able to get their foot in the NHL door will often complain about simply not getting a fair opportunity. With Pickard, that looks to be the case. Given the chance to show what he can do, he’s been showing it for two years.
“He’s always getting the job done,” said Mattias Janmark. “We always have a chance to win, he always battles for us. He always gives us a chance to win.”
A 9-1 roll is as about good as it gets for an NHL backup. Heck, that’s a wicked run for an $8 million starter. In a salary cap era where every penny counts for a team looking to load up for the playoffs, Pickard and Skinner punching above their salaries makes Edmonton’s goaltending budget ($3.6 million) the envy of the league.
“First and foremost, it is nice playing behind such a good team,” said Pickard. “A team that knows how to win and expects to win every single night.
“I just have to go out there and do my job and trust that my teammates will do theirs and they’ve been doing that.”
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