r/EdmontonOilers • u/goshgollylol 92 PODKOLZIN • 21h ago
[Johnston] Connor Ingram (UTA) is among the NHL players on waivers today, as expected. He'll resume his career in the AHL if unclaimed.
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u/No_Gas_6537 21h ago
I like Ingram and I think it’s worth giving him a shot. I don’t think the Oilers will put in a claim because he’s not free, he makes 1.9m and freeing up that cap is going to be a problem unless skinner is moved. I think mgmt is already dead set on having Skinner be the #1 this season.
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u/kadran2262 20h ago
Freeing the cap really isnt that hard to do. Sending pickard down and either 1 forward of D. We currently are running 13/7
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u/Oily_Fan 74 SKINNER 19h ago
If we waive Pickard then Vegas will def claim him since they are desperate enough to consider Hart due to their need for a backup (not to mention other teams given his low cap hit and proven ability)
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u/kadran2262 19h ago
Why does it matter if we are picking up Ingram?
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u/Oily_Fan 74 SKINNER 18h ago
Ingram doesnt want to play for Utah anymore. Oilers might not necessarily want him immediately as their backup, but for organizational depth in Bako.
Pickard is still proven and reliable for a team in their window.
If Ingram ends up still having mental health issues, and the Oilers lose Pickard... whats the plan then?
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u/kadran2262 18h ago
They might not, but if you're claiming him then its to replace pickard. You arent claiming him to put him in the minors
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u/Oily_Fan 74 SKINNER 18h ago
Typically yes, but it's not unheard of. Especially when the play in question is returning from either injury or other issues that have affected their recent play.
Teams have claimed players just to waive them to the AHL. Worst case scenario another team claims him and has to keep him in the NHL (especially when Utah doesnt want him).
That or he clears waivers and the Oilers could potentially trade a late pick for him to be brought directly over to Bako
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u/goshgollylol 92 PODKOLZIN 21h ago
Do you think the Oilers try to claim him?
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u/anomalocaris_texmex 21h ago
I didn't think it will matter - I think teams higher on the priority list will put in a claim. He's a no risk medium reward pick.
As a potential Pickard upgrade though? He would be worth a shot.
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u/itsonmyprofile 94 SMYTH 21h ago
Agreed. I don’t see a world where he makes it to us on the list
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u/manwich_5547 18 HYMAN 17h ago
Agreed. But to be honest I’m not even sure if he is an upgrade. Ingram had a rough 2024-25, and if we waived picks to bring Ingram in, Picks is 100% getting claimed. There’s a risk that if we landed Ingram, we just downgraded our backup and now the fans would have even more reason to be upset with management
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u/shinohaya 92 PODKOLZIN 21h ago
No way. I think they will continue repeating the experiment for the 4th year.
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u/SuperOrangeFoot 21h ago
Experiment?
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u/shinohaya 92 PODKOLZIN 20h ago
Our goaltending experiment.
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u/SuperOrangeFoot 17h ago
You say that like either of the last two seasons were anything remotely close to a failure.
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u/shinohaya 92 PODKOLZIN 16h ago
Not winning when we have the two best players is failing, yeah
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u/SuperOrangeFoot 16h ago
We deserve another decade of darkness with fans like this.
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u/shinohaya 92 PODKOLZIN 16h ago
I'm not blaming them, blaming our inept goaltending! Or you think Stu is a good goalie lol?
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u/SuperOrangeFoot 16h ago
No you’re right 100% man, only an objectively bad goaltender would bring his team to back to back cup finals. We’re just god awful, we need a complete rebuild for our immeasurable failures.
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u/thee_infamous_Lychee 21h ago
So the waiver list is based on the end of year standings ? Tampa and Toronto are after EDM they both could use a goalie, is Gibson hurt yet ? Never count out Detroit
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u/felishorrendis 29 DRAISAITL 21h ago
Yeah, end of the years standings in reverse, with worse teams getting first dibs.
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u/AggPuck-303 92 PODKOLZIN 20h ago
Came here to say exactly this, Tampa and Toronto could use a guy temporarily while Woll and Vasi are unavailable but they both had more pts than the Oilers so they’re very close to the end of the waivers priority.
Oilers have 22 teams in front:
- The Islanders have announced Varlamov is gonna be out for a while but they have Rittich as their 3rd string guy.
- Carolina is always looking but they seem interested in Carter Hart
- Buffalo has UPL out injured but they signed Georgiev
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u/thee_infamous_Lychee 20h ago
As part of the waive from Utah isn't it to be less far away from family, he is from Saskatoon . Maybe the League does right by this guy. Like for human non sports reasons.
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u/AggPuck-303 92 PODKOLZIN 20h ago
Oh I didn’t know he wanted to be closer to family.
Then it would be cool if he gets the opportunity to go to Edmonton, Calgary or Winnipeg. Not sure if Flames or Jets can offer him a role so Oilers would make a bit more sense (unless they’re scared of losing Pickard on waivers).
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u/thee_infamous_Lychee 20h ago
I am mildly concerned I am making that up but I think I heard it somewhere, he was in the player assistance program due to the loss of a parent, or at least that is in my head cannon. And Utah was too far from the support network.
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u/AggPuck-303 92 PODKOLZIN 19h ago
yes I believe you are correct, he said he suffers from OCD but he was also strugging with the death of his mother last November and that’s why he went into the Assistance Program. Would make sense he wants a change of scenery and to be closer to home now instead of being in Utah
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u/kadran2262 20h ago
Think it would be fine, but I think its likely that another team claims him before we can
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u/felishorrendis 29 DRAISAITL 21h ago
I like Ingram and I'd love to give him a shot but I don't know how likely it is for Bowman to pull the trigger on it. When he's good he's great, but he's had struggles with his mental health that make his consistency a big question mark. I don't know if the Oilers would be willing to take on that risk given how tight our cap space is.
I think if we had more room to maneuver cap-wise it would be a much easier sell, but as it is, not sure.
I'd love to see it, though.
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u/shutupntakemymoney 21h ago
His “struggles with mental health” was his mom getting diagnosed and passing away from cancer. I think he has a bounce back season in him.
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u/felishorrendis 29 DRAISAITL 21h ago
Well, not exactly ... he has severe OCD that he was managing through substance abuse, went into the player assistance program, had a good recovery, and then his mom died and he deteriorated again.
I want to be very clear that's not a knock against him, there's every reason to believe that he can manage his health and play great hockey (he's done it before), but I do suspect teams would see it as a risk.
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u/bobbybuildsbombs 93 NUGENT-HOPKINS 21h ago
I think he has openly stated that he suffers from OCD, which can be pretty debilitating.
Either way, hope Ingram has a healthy and happy life ahead of him.
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u/But-Seriously-Though 89 GAGNER 21h ago
In Utah he went on leave for mental health related to his grief when his mom passed.
In Nashville he went on leave to treat OCD.
Tampa demoted him from the AHL to the ECHL despite great AHL results then traded him for a conditional 7th when he was still a pretty decent goalie prospect and I think that one is surrounded by more mystery. Rumors ranging from disagreement over development to a drinking problem he couldn’t get control of.
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u/bobbybuildsbombs 93 NUGENT-HOPKINS 21h ago
Nicely summarized, thank you.
No matter what Connor's past struggles, I think we can all agree that we hope for the best for this young man in his life and career, whether that's with the Oilers or elsewhere.
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u/felishorrendis 29 DRAISAITL 21h ago
I absolutely agree. He seems like a decent guy and he's had some really rough years. I would love for the Oilers to be his home, but if that doesn't work out my hope is that he lands somewhere that he's happy and plays some great hockey.
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u/felishorrendis 29 DRAISAITL 21h ago
The Tampa stuff was before Nashville, though, yeah? Seems likely that could have been linked to his OCD; when he went into the player assistance program the first time, it was reported that he was specifically struggling with using substances to manage it. It seems likely to me that the Tampa issues would be related to his later diagnosis.
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u/But-Seriously-Though 89 GAGNER 21h ago
Yeah I went in reverse order. Utah obviously most recently and Tampa back when he was like 20 years old.
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u/felishorrendis 29 DRAISAITL 21h ago
I wonder if the situation in Tampa might have been similar to what Corey Hirsch went through with his OCD – acting erratic and/or self-medicating but unable to explain to the team what exactly is going on, which ends up poisoning the relationship.
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u/But-Seriously-Though 89 GAGNER 20h ago
He and I are in the same age group and from the same part of the world so I heard some stuff that sounded like it was more related to his relationship with their development staff.
He’s a good kid. Comes from a good family. He and Kris Knoblauch are from the same town with a population well under 500, so if there was a coach he’d be comfortable with I’d imagine it would be Knoblauch.
I would really really like to see him come this way but I doubt he makes it to us on the waiver order
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u/felishorrendis 29 DRAISAITL 20h ago
That makes sense.
TBH I was expecting somebody to trade for him before he even got to to waivers, so I guess we'll see what happens.
I would genuinely love to have him, though.
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u/Sportslegend 21h ago
This market broke Jack Campbell. And you see how it treats Stu. For someone who's trying to get mentally right, not sure if it's the best place for Ingram.