‘Don’t be sad it’s over’: Edmonton Oilers starting goalie this past season retires from hockey

This in from Connor Ingram, the starting goalie for the Edmonton Oilers during the 2025-26 season, news that he’s retiring from hockey. On his Instagram account, Ingram said, “Don’t be sad it’s over, be happy it happened. Thanks hockey, I owe ya.”

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Ingram was the top goalie on the Edmonton Oilers this past season. The 29-year-old played the most games for the Oilers, 32, had the most wins, 16, and the highest save percentage 0.899. He started five out of six playoff games.

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He was also an OK goalie by NHL-wide standards. If you rank goalies based on their durability (games played), shot stopping prowess (save percentage), and comparative shot stopping prowess (Goals Saved Above Average as reported by Natural Stat Trick), Ingram ranked 46th in games played, 29th in save percentage, and 30th in Goals Saved Above Average, good for an overall ranking of 34th out of the 70 goalies who played more than 15 games last season.

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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported: “Via Instagram, Connor Ingram, who played 134 NHL games for Nashville, Arizona, Utah and Edmonton, announces his retirement. He adds his goal is to go back to school for psychology; use what he learns to help others.”

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Said writer Murat Ates of the Athletic Winnipeg: “What a positive and impactful thing to do with his experiences.”

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Showbiz My take

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1. It sounded like Ingram looked for a new contract all summer but could not find one in the NHL. This despite his decent season with the Oilers, where he became a fan favourite with many and former coach Kris Knoblauch’s go-to goalie.

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Despite his solid play in Edmonton, Ingram previously had two stays in the NHL’s Player Assistance program for psychological issues.

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Was that a factor in him not getting a contract?

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As the Journal’s Jim Matheson reported in mid-August, with Ingram still without a contract: “This is perhaps also reflective of his history in the NHL Player Assistance program as teams look at him, even though he was content, reliable and in a good head space here last season. Now, teams may not want to admit any concerns, but his stats scream a new contract, but there hasn’t been one.”

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2. I thought and hoped some NHL team might take a chance on him. I put a lot of weight in the assessment of Steve Valiquette, the former NHL goalie, studio analyst for MSG New York, and leader of Clear Sight Analytics, who spoke highly of Ingram in late April, saying the goalie was good enough to take the Oilers deep into the playoffs.

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Valiquette said that before Ingram’s down 2024-25 season when he went into the NHL’s Player Assistance Program for the second time in his career, that Ingram had been one of the NHL’s best goalies. Ingram had a .907 save percentage two years running with Arizona. “Three years ago, before he went through his stuff, he was one of the top 10 goalies in the league when he was with Arizona at the time. I think that Edmonton recognized the talent there, and what he’s doing is he’s not allowing the bad goal, and he’s not allowing the mid-danger goal more than he should.”