Edmonton Oilers make emergency move, bring in veteran goalie as injury bites hard

This in from the Edmonton Oilers, news that they are making an emergency recall of veteran goalie Matt Tomkins, 32, from the Bakersfield Condors to fill in for injured No. 1 goalie Devon Levi.

Said Western Hockey League scout Dan Tencer of this latest injury in Edmonton’s long run of injuries in this young season: “Absolutely brutal. Not just the overall run of injuries for the team but this one in particular…he was playing so, so well.”

1. The Edmonton Oilers were able to play well in the absence of injured centres Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach mainly because GM Stan Bowman had built up such excellent depth at centre in players like Owen Michaels and Josh Samanski.

There’s also depth on defence with players like Damien Carfagna, Tomas Cibulka and Shakir Mukhamadullin good bets to step in in limited roles.

But the same does not apply in net. Tomkins, 32, is does not have a great pro record, yet the Bowman still signed him to a two-year deal.

2. Tomkins had some big games for Bakersfield last season, but there was no other NHL franchise that invested such heavy AHL playing time in an old, non-prospect goalie. Edmonton has prospect goalies in its system in Connor Ungar, Samuel Jonsson and Nathaniel Day, but they’re all in line behind Tomkins.

Perhaps Tomkins will provide steady goaltending for a game or two if he’s called on in Edmonton, but he last played in the NHL in 2023-24, and he’s only played six NHL games in total in his pro career.

3. Goalies are in a special and pressure-packed situation when they get in the game. A depth forward or depth d-man can be used in sparing fashion and most often against the depth players of the opposing team. But when a goalie takes the ice, he is always the No. 1 goalie. He faces all the opposing players, even the superstars. He’s as critical to team success as the No. 1 centre and the No. 1 goalie.

Bowman tried to insulate the Oilers in net by bringing in two good bets to play well this year for Edmonton, Levi and Frederik Andersen, so that’s to the GM’s credit, but he would have done well to have a goalie in Bako who was also a good bet to step in and get the job done.

Again, Tomkins may well surprise, but the Oilers are out on a limb here.

In the meantime, Tristan Jarry is going to get some starts. Jarry has had good games in two of his three starts this year, but Levi had clearly stepped up and seized the No. 1 job.

Maybe Jarry can seize it back. He’s known as an NHL goalie who gets off to strong starts most years, but he’s also known to fade as each year goes on, perhaps due to over-use and injury.

I feel like 108% of the time that I see a team call out penalty differential, it's a team that usually gets a helpful whistle shocked that they didn't against a team that usually gets a bad one

In this case, we have 3rd in pens drawn vs. 16th (7th vs 22nd last three years) https://t.co/xggpPg1kd5

— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) October 23, 2026