Can Connor Ingram be the Oilers’ starter down the stretch?

The Edmonton Oilers‘ goaltending situation has been a mess all season.

Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard weren’t getting it done early in the season, so general manager Stan Bowman chose to act. He made a major trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins to land Tristan Jarry as part of a deal for a package built around Skinner, and he brought in Connor Ingram to provide depth.

The Jarry acquisition, meant to give the team the true No. 1 goalie it’s been missing for most of the Connor McDavid era, has proven disastrous. Jarry owns a .855 save percentage with the team, and keeping him in the top role was untenable.

That forced head coach Kris Knoblauch’s hand, as Knoblauch announced that Ingram would take over as the team’s primary starter. Ingram has a .895 SV% with the team, which while unspectacular, is the best mark of the four goalies who have manned the crease for the Oilers this season.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Jason Gregor to discuss whether or not Ingram has what it takes to rise to the level Edmonton might need out of its starter.

Carter Hutton: Jarry comes in, he’s supposed to be the guy. It hasn’t gone well. It’s been ugly. Ingram has kind of taken the crease over… like is this sustainable, Conor Ingram being your game one starter come playoff time? I think he’s 5-0-1 in the month, numbers aren’t great, but he’s finding ways to win hockey games. That’s what matters

Jason Gregor: I think, Conor Ingram, when the Oilers decide to play team defense, which they have here other than the Dallas game… Carter, you played the position it’s it’s a tough position man outside of maybe top five or seven goalies from year to year… It seems to be difficult to to maintain it all the time. So, you know, can Connor Ingram be the guy? Probably. I don’t see why not. The Oilers’ schedule isn’t overbearing here at all, like it’s actually really favorable. They get every second day at home, no travel, then they got two days off. You’ve got a short road trip, and you come home again more two days off, so I think you can they’ll have to get Jarry in at some point here.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…