Edmonton Daily Sports Digest — Feb 1, 2026

Big roster move: The Edmonton Oilers placed 33-year-old goaltender Calvin Pickard on waivers (report published Feb. 1, 2026). Pickard was 5-6-2 this season with a 3.68 GAA and .871 save percentage, was in year two of a two-year US$2 million deal, and hadn’t played since Jan. 8 after losing his spot when Tristan Jarry returned on Jan. 13.

Hot month for Bouchard: Evan Bouchard was named the NHL’s third star for January after posting 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in 15 games and helping Edmonton to an 8-5-2 month (reported Feb. 1, 2026). Only Roman Josi (28 in Mar 2022) and Cale Makar (25 in Nov 2023) have had bigger months for a defenceman in the past 33 years; Nikita Kucherov and David Pastrnak were the first and second stars.

CFL negotiation window explodes open: The CFL’s negotiation window opened at noon ET on Sunday (report Feb. 1, 2026), and deals started fast — about 16 minutes in Jonathan Moxie was reported to have agreed with Winnipeg. Big moves include Ottawa agreeing in principle with A.J. Allen and Ayden Eberhardt (Eberhardt’s two-year deal reported as $285,000 hard money, max $299,000), Edmonton signing multiple linemen and others, and roster/contract tweaks across teams as the window runs this week before Feb. 10 free agency.

Oilers need to tighten up the D: After a 7-3 loss to Minnesota (report Feb. 1, 2026), Tristan Jarry gave up five goals on 20 shots and the Oilers have allowed 25 goals in their last five games (team record 28-20-8). Edmonton’s goals-against average this season is 3.18 (12th most in the NHL) and the penalty kill has given up six goals on 14 penalties in the last four games — coach Kris Knoblauch says they must eliminate high-quality chances.

Hughes keeps rolling as Wild dominate: Quinn Hughes extended his point streak to eight games (2 goals, 11 assists) and Minnesota beat Edmonton 7-3 (game report Jan. 31, 2026), with Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello and Brock Faber also chipping in and Jesper Wallstedt making 39 saves. The Wild are now 32-14-10, Kaprizov hit his 30th goal, and the Oilers (28-20-8) saw their three-game win streak end.