Oilers’ Calvin Pickard Can Be This Season’s Pheonix Copley

After positive signs shown in last season’s playoffs coming in as relief and in the preseason this season, there was hope it was just first-year nerves. That didn’t turn out to be the case as the Oilers have needed a save all season and Campbell hasn’t been able to provide any. He is 1-4-0 with a 4.50 GAA and .873 SV% and proved that he was not going to show improvement in the NHL right now for the Oilers. This season is also too important for the Oilers to continue to give him that chance. In the meantime, Calvin Pickard, the starter for the Bakersfield Condors, will be recalled and take on a big task.

Pickard’s Journey Back to the NHL

You can call Pickard a journeyman as he is 31 years old, has played professional hockey since 2011-12, and is set to play a game for his sixth different NHL team, but only has 93 career starts and 116 games played. Over the past five seasons, he has started just six games in the NHL and didn’t appear in an NHL game last season. But just because his recent time has been spent playing strong hockey in the American Hockey League (AHL) and even Austria for a short time, doesn’t mean he isn’t experienced or ready for this opportunity with the Oilers.

Pickard was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the second round in 2010. That is where he got his NHL start as a higher goalie prospect. He actually had a .914 SV% over parts of three seasons for the Avalanche, but was unfortunate enough to be on the abysmal 2016-17 team. With how bad that team was overall, Pickard still managed a .903 SV% and a sub-3.00 GAA.

Being overlooked so much after that point, Pickard has had to fight for what he has gotten in his NHL career. It has been a long seven years, but he is presented with a unique opportunity that I strongly believe he won’t get again in his career in North America.

Pickard Situation Very Similar to the Kings Last Season

Last season a 31-year-old Pheonix Copley got recalled when Calvin Petersen was sent down after recording a 3.75 GAA and .868 SV% in nine starts and 10 games. Jonathan Quick, the other goaltender for the Los Angeles Kings, was struggling as well, similar to how Stuart Skinner is. The Kings were then pleasantly surprised by Copley’s performance for the remainder of the season and it allowed the Kings to win games and get into the playoffs (from “Kings goaltending analysis: How will Talbot and Copley split duties?”, The Athletic, Sept. 7, 2023).

Copley came in hot and won 12 of his first 14 games. To that point in his career, he had 26 starts and 31 games played at the NHL level. He finished the season with a 2.64 GAA and .903 SV%, but it was a lot about settling things down and getting his team a timely save. This is something the Oilers desperately need and may be able to get from Pickard.

The Oilers not only have not been able to get a timely save from either of their goalies, but a lot of the time this season there have just been weak goals that could have been stopped. Right off the hop with Pickard, there is likely a lot less scouting on him and where to shoot. This is to the Oilers’ advantage. Edmonton really just needs a couple of wins strung together to get things going. They aren’t asking for Pickard to take them all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

What Copley did was above and beyond what the Kings hoped for and that team was able to slowly take the pressure off of him by acquiring a goalie at the trade deadline. While there is a slight hope by some that Campbell can find his game in the AHL and come back and be that so-called addition later in the season, I’m holding no expectations. Pickard should get the start against the San Jose Sharks in the Oilers’ next game on Thursday, Nov. 9 and it is an easier test for him and the Oilers to get some confidence. With a .939 SV% in the AHL this season, he’s hot and he’s capable of making stops in all situations. Maybe this move will turn out to be what the Oilers need this season. They better hope it is.