Calvin Pickard reportedly will not report to AHL after waivers, goalie issue raised

News broke this afternoon that Pickard cleared waivers, despite reports that other teams were looking at making a claim on him. This will free up roster space for Edmonton to add a forward soon, though a corresponding roster move has not happened yet.

Clearing waivers is the formal process that assigns veteran players back to the AHL, but insiders are reporting that’s unlikely to happen with Pickard. Instead, he won’t report to the minor league team until after the Olympic break.

The Oilers are clearly allowing some leeway for the 33 year old veteran goalie, who last played in the AHL during the 2023-24 season. Pickard’s put down roots in Edmonton, and would have to leave his family to move down to California to be with the Condors.

Not only that, but the Oilers’ farm team currently has a solid goaltending situation with their existing tandem. Connor Ungar is posting unreal numbers with a .949 save percentage, and veteran third stringer Matt Tomkins is succeeding as well.

For the time being, it seems the Oilers don’t even want Pickard to take playing time away from the current AHL tandem - especially Ungar.

In that sense, Pickard currently doesn’t have a home anywhere in the Oilers system. They’re surely not sending him to the ECHL.

Instead, analysts predict that the Oilers could make a goalie trade soon to clear up their system. Matt Tomkins could be on the move in a minor-league deal, or Calvin Pickard himself could be traded. After clearing waivers, he has roster flexibility that’s useful to other teams.

We’ll see what happens to Pickard near the end of the Olympic break, but it seems like his time with the Edmonton Oilers organization is done.

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