On Wednesday (Nov. 8) the Edmonton Oilers recalled goaltender Calvin Pickard from the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL). Pickard joins Stuart Skinner as the goalies on Edmonton’s roster after veteran netminder Jack Campbell cleared waivers and was assigned to Bakersfield.
Pickard may not be in Edmonton for long, or he could be with the NHL club for a while. A lot of that will depend on how Campbell performs in the AHL, where the former NHL All-Star has been sent to get his game back on track after struggling over the first few weeks of the season.
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It also remains to be seen how much of an opportunity Pickard will receive with the Oilers. Skinner, who has started four of Edmonton’s last five games, should continue to see most of the action between the pipes, although he too has not played particularly well thus far in 2023-24.
With Edmonton off to a disastrous 2-8-1 start, the Oilers are desperate for something, anything, that can help turn things around before it becomes too late to save their season for which there was such great hope. Perhaps Pickard can provide that spark, and in the process resurrect his own NHL career.
He was drafted 49th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2010, is 31 years old, and will wear No. 30 with the Oilers. Here are five other things to know about Pickard.
Pickard Was the First Player in Golden Knights History
Pickard appeared in 86 regular season games with the Avalanche, including a career-high 50 in 2016-17 when he led Colorado with a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.98 and save percentage (SV%) of .904.
Following that season, he was left unprotected for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, who made the Moncton, N.B., product the first player to become property of the NHL’s 31st franchise. The initial 17 members of the Golden Knights were unveiled with plenty of splash during the NHL Awards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 21, 2017.
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On Oct. 6, the day of the Golden Knights’ inaugural regular season game, Vegas traded Pickard to the Toronto Maple Leafs for right wing Tobias Lindberg and a 2018 sixth-round pick.
Pickard Won Gold With Connor McDavid
In 2018, Pickard won a Calder Cup as a member of the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the Maple Leafs. That wasn’t his first major championship victory, however.
Two years earlier, he helped Team Canada capture gold at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship in Russia. His teammates include current Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who was just coming off his rookie NHL campaign.
Pickard represented Canada again the following spring at the 2017 World Championship, co-hosted by France and Germany, this time winning a silver medal.
Pickard is in His Second Year With the Oilers Organization
After spending the prior three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings organization, Pickard signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Oilers in July 2022.
Last season in the AHL, Pickard posted a 23-12-2 record in 38 appearances for the Condors while leading Bakersfield with a 2.70 GAA and .912 SV%.
He was recalled by the Oilers on Jan. 10, 2023, but didn’t actually get into a game before being reassigned to Bakersfield five days later.
Pickard is the Second Member of His Family to Play in Bakersfield
This season, Pickard has started four games for the Condors, going 2-2 with an excellent 2.03 GAA and .932 SV%. That means he has now played 42 games in his Condors career, exactly twice as many as his brother, goaltender Chet Pickard, who spent parts of a season with Bakersfield in 2013-14 when the team was in the ECHL.
Chet, who is two years older than Calvin, was drafted 18th overall by the Nashville Predators in 2008, but never appeared in an NHL regular season or playoff game. After a professional career that included stints in the North American minor leagues followed by several seasons playing in the highest division of German hockey, the DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga), Chet announced his retirement on July 26, 2022, just a couple weeks after Calvin signed with the Oilers.
Pickard Has Not Played an NHL Game Since March 2022
Excluding preseason games with the Oilers in 2022 and 2023, Pickard’s last NHL game was nearly 600 days ago, on March 27, 2022, as a member of the Red Wings against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
That night, the visiting Red Wings were shelled 11-2 by the Penguins. Pickard came on in relief of Alex Nedeljkovic and allowed four goals on 13 shots in just over 22 minutes.
Pickard’s first chance to play for the Oilers comes tonight (Nov. 9) against the San Jose Sharks. As of Wednesday evening, it was not known whether Pickard or Skinner would be starting for the Oilers in San Jose.