Elliotte Friedman drops surprising Calvin Pickard waiver news involving two teams
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Daniel Lucente
Feb 4, 2026 (2:30 PM)
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Photo credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Calvin Pickard hit Edmonton Oilers waivers, and Elliotte Friedman sounded genuinely surprised nobody bit.
Pickard was placed on waivers on Sunday, February 1, and the numbers explain the debate.
He is 5-6-2 with a 3.68 GAA and .871 save percentage in 16 games, with 13 starts.
That is not pretty, but goaltending desperation usually beats pride.
Then came the eyebrow-raiser from Friedman on The FAN Hockey Show.
He told Matt Marchese he was "a little bit" surprised no one claimed Pickard, and he specifically wondered about Philadelphia and the New York Rangers.
Matt Marchese: "Were you surprised that nobody claimed [Calvin Pickard]?"
Elliotte Friedman: "A little bit, yeah I was, I thought Philly might, I wondered about Rangers."
Elliotte Friedman: "A little bit, yeah I was, I thought Philly might, I wondered about Rangers."
For Oilers fans, the key detail is Pickard cleared and stayed in the organization.
That matters because his deal is clean, a $1 million cap hit, and it runs through 2025-26.
He is also tracking toward UFA status in 2026, so there is no long-term handcuff.
Calvin Pickard still matters to the Edmonton Oilers
Oilers fans have seen Pickard steal nights before, so hearing "Flyers" and "Rangers" in the same sentence hits a nerve.
If Friedman is right about the interest, it screams depth move, not savior move.
Philly makes sense as a volume team that chews through goalies when the schedule gets heavy.
The Rangers angle is spicier, because that is a "just in case" claim to perhaps block a contender from grabbing Pickard.
The part I keep coming back to is this: teams passed even with the cap hit being totally manageable.
That tells you the league saw the same thing Edmonton did, he is useful, but not untouchable.
Now the Oilers get the best version of this story, insurance without losing the asset.
The next time the crease wobbles, that waiver wire silence might look very different.
Also read on HockeyLatest :
Trent Frederic’s "wrong guy" moment sums up Edmonton’s messy night
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| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 4|173 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman drops surprising Calvin Pickard waiver news involving two teams Should the Edmonton Oilers trust Calvin Pickard as an NHL option again? | ||
| Yes | 112 | 64.7 % |
| No | 61 | 35.3 % |
| List of polls | ||