Oilers goaltending uncertain again after injury to Calvin Pickard in preseason
Photo credit: Oilers Nation
Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard was forced to leave last night's preseason game with an injury, which will cause some questions heading into the regular season.
Pickard started last night's preseason game against the Seattle Kraken, but had to leave just nine minutes into the game after teammate Noah Philp collided with him. Philp made hard and high contact with Pickard, who was clearly shaken up but able to skate off on his own. Olivier Rodrigue came into the game in relief.
Oilers Coach Knoblauch was asked after the game about the health status of Pickard, but only said that the team will need to evaluate him further.
Calvin Pickard appeared in 23 Oilers games last season and was a stable backup goalie, posting a .909 save percentage. The 32 year old journeyman backup had a record of 12-7-1, and was much needed after the struggles of Jack Campbell last year. Pickard is expected again to be a big part of the team and perhaps start more games this year. Hopefully this injury doesn't derail those plans.
If Pickard is out for any amount of time, the Oilers backup goalie would likely be the 24 year old prospect Oliver Rodrigue. Drafted in the second round by the Oilers in 2018, Rodrigue has been very successful in the AHL the last two seasons. Rodrigue may be more of an uncertainty than Pickard, but he's a fine young goalie, and Oilers fans should be excited to see him. According to some metrics, Rodrigue has outperformed high end goalie prospects across the NHL.
Hopefully the Oilers will make more information available today about the status of Pickard. The team only has 3 more preseason games before opening their regular season at home against the Winnipeg Jets on October 9th.
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