Calvin Pickard’s waiver fate is settled after the latest update

The wire came and went on Monday, and nobody put in a claim.

That lines up with a simple reality, Edmonton is juggling too many goalies and too little cap room.

Pickard’s 2025-26 line is ugly, 5-6-2 with a 3.68 GAA and .871 save percentage in 16 games.

He’s on a $1.0 million cap hit and headed for AHL burial relief, which screams "Bakersfield" more than "trade chip". He’s a pending UFA in 2026. The Oilers are 28-20-8.

The bigger tell today is who stays, not who goes.

Tristan Jarry’s contract makes him hard to park, so Pickard becomes the movable piece behind Stuart Skinner and Connor Ingram. Edmonton has $5.375 million committed to Jarry beyond this season.

Oilers fans can feel the anxiety, because this is the kind of goalie decision that explodes the minute one injury hits.

If Jarry stumbles, the club will miss the steadier Pickard that carried stretches the last two seasons.

If he’s recalled soon, he can reset in the AHL, then come back with sharper reads and a shorter leash.

Calgary had its own waiver footnote, Justin Kirkland also cleared and can be sent down without losing him for nothing.

Kirkland is 29, drafted in 2014 in the third round by Nashville, and he’s on a $900,000 one-way deal that expires in 2026.

He has 1-1-2 in 20 NHL games this season, and the Flames at 22-26-6 need more scoring pop than a spare forward can give.

For Edmonton, the next stretch is about surviving the standings grind without turning the crease into a weekly crisis.