Proven NHL starting goalies looking to take over Oilers' net from Skinner and Pickard

The Oilers' goalie controversy has been ongoing since the end of the 2024-25 playoffs, during which the Oilers were defeated by the Panthers in the finals. Many analysts believe the reason the Oilers lost was because of poor goaltending.

Though Oilers' GM Stan Bowman seems intent on starting the 2025-26 season with the goalie tandem of Skinner-Pickard, this latest report of inviting two competent goaltenders to training camp on a PTO is a prudent move.

Ilya Samsonov has a proven track record of winning throughout his career. In 2024-25 with the Vegas Golden Knights, he had a very good record of 16-9-4 over 29 games played in the regular season.

Over his career, Samsonov has a record of 118-48-25 over 200 games played, with a 2.77 GAA and .902 SV%, well above the league average. He is a competent goaltender that has the ability to take over a net.

Now a free agent, Samsonov's last cap hit with Vegas was $1.8M in 2024-25, though he could be available for potentially half of that, which will benefit the Oilers should he be signed.

Alexander Georgiev is also a competent goalie, and was in fact highly sought after when he played for Colorado, where he had a stellar winning record of 86-41-11 over 141 games played.

Over his career, Georgiev has a record of 151-108-26, and a 2.99 GAA, and .903 SV% in 303 games. Again, competent numbers that are well above the league average.

For the Oilers to sign one of the two, however, they would need to move-out a contract. Whether one of Skinner and Pickard, or a bottom-4 player whose depth can be missed.

The Oilers have only $226K in cap space available, so a move would be necessary to accommodate an additional contract.

A PTO to both, however, is a feasible move that can pay high dividens. Smart for Stan Bowman to be considering this move.