Where Does Jarry's Future Lie?

Barring Devon Levi completely falling apart to start the season, the Edmonton Oilers' plan for Tristan Jarry should go as follows.

Play him as the backup until Frederik Anderson return, and then send him to Bakersfield.

Andersen is expected to miss the start of the season due to an injury during offseason training, leaving Jarry and Levi as Edmonton's lone goaltenders. 

Jarry played 19 games for Edmonton after getting traded from Pittsburgh in December. He went 9-6-2 with a 3.86 GAA and an .858 save percentage. Connor Ingram eventually became Edmonton's starter, and Jarry started once during Edmonton's six-game first-round loss to Anaheim.

Jarry also carries a $5.375 million cap hit through the end of next season, money that could arguably be spent elsewhere

Per NHL rules, a team can only bury a portion of a player's contract in the AHL, leaving Edmonton responsible for the remaining cap hit. The Oilers would still create some room and open an NHL roster spot in the process.

Levi was acquired from Buffalo this summer because Edmonton believes there is an NHL goaltender there. He spent much of the last two seasons in the American Hockey League and now has a golden opportunity to prove he can be an NHL goaltender.

Edmonton can spend the opening weeks evaluating both goaltenders without allowing the situation to drag deep into the season.

And again, Levi doesn't need to prove he's better than Andersson; he just has to prove he's better than Jarry by being dependable and earning the organization's trust. A solid opening month should be enough to keep him in Edmonton.

An awful opening month would mean that Levi could struggle even as the backup, give Edmonton unreliable goaltending and force the team to kepe Jarry around. That said, anything resembling competent NHL goaltending would keep Levi around.

The Oilers gave Jarry an opportunity after acquiring him from Pittsburgh, and his .858 save percentage became part of a larger goaltending problem that followed the team throughout the year. There is no need to spend another several months searching for an answer that may already be sitting in front of them.

Jarry's $5.375-million cap hit is already committed. Keeping him in Edmonton only keeps an expensive goaltender on the NHL roster after the organization has added Andersen and Levi.

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The Oilers need to think about what else that money could eventually become.

Cap space can be accumulated and used during the season. Edmonton can identify weaknesses in its lineup once Mike Babcock has a few months to work with the roster and fix them. Edmonton needs as much flexibility as it can create.

A top-six winger would have a direct role on this roster, as would a middle-six winger, when the injuries stack up, as they already have. Defensive depth could become necessary during the season, and the Oilers should be looking for ways to create room for those additions instead of protecting Jarry's roster spot because of the money attached to his contract.

Andersson was signed so that he could play in the NHL for the Oilers, not sit in the press box, and his return will force Edmonton to make a decision unless another injury settles it for them. Why not decide now and set the expectations for the rest of the season?

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Three goaltenders only delay the issue. Carrying Jarry, Andersen and Levi takes another roster spot and keeps Edmonton from committing to the tandem it wants for the remainder of the season. Sending Levi back to the AHL after a strong start would also waste the opportunity created by Andersen's injury.

The Oilers are trying to win a Stanley Cup right now, which means every roster spot needs a purpose, and every available cap dollar needs to be treated seriously. Spending months trying to make an expensive goaltending arrangement work would accomplish very little.

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