Throughout this season, the series of events has led to Stuart Skinner becoming the undisputed number one goalie. Although he is not without his struggles and pain points, his presence in net has led the Edmonton Oilers to one of the biggest single season turnarounds in recent history.
But what happens if Skinner needs a night off? Or like last season, hits a rough patch in the playoffs and needs support? Who would take over then?
In this week’s Oilers Sunday Census, we took it to X to ask the fans who they would trust as the Edmonton Oilers’ backup goalie in the 2024 NHL Playoffs.
Want to take part in Sunday Census polls? We send them out every week on our Twitter at @oilrigEDM. Follow along or send in ideas for the next poll!
The man of the season wins definitively
During the early season goaltending struggle and shuffle, Calvin Pickard was summoned from the AHL mostly as a placeholder until a better option came around. As it turns out, he isn’t half bad.
Pickard came away the clear winner in this poll with 56.4% of fans voting that they’d trust him as the Oilers backup goalie heading into the playoffs.
And although there are backup goalies with far more pedigree than Pickard, he has done his job in net for the Oilers and has been more than serviceable.
Is it time for him to return?
Jack Campbell was sent to the AHL back in November and has not played an NHL game since. He has been solid, at times, with the Bakersfield Condors, but also faced his share of struggles. It is hard to tell if he has found his game in the AHL, but nonetheless, 22.6% of the voters would trust him the most as Edmonton’s backup for the playoffs.
I think this comes with good reason, as Campbell was sort of the catalyst for what saved the Oilers season in the 2023 playoffs. During that first round rematch against the Los Angeles Kings, Skinner struggled and was pulled after giving up three goals in the first period of Game 4. Campbell came in and shut the door as the Oilers rallied and won that game to tie the series 2–2 instead of falling behind 3–1. Edmonton won that series in six.
Finding some rookie magic
Olivier Rodrigue was a second round draft pick of Edmonton’s back in 2018. Since then, he has been slowly developing and working his way up through the system. In 2023–24, he got a bit stuck behind Campbell and maybe didn’t get as many starts as he would have liked, but still performed well.
As he is viewed as a potential NHL goalie within the next few years, some people already trust that he could come in and be a reliable, trustworthy backup to Skinner for this year’s playoffs.
Or perhaps, the 7.5% of voters who chose Rodrigue in this week’s poll have that little faith in Pickard and Campbell that they’d rather send in a rookie than either of the other two.
There may be a lack of confidence in Edmonton’s goaltending
Finishing third in this week’s poll with 13.5% of the vote is none of the above. The amount of criticism and discussions around the goaltending position through the season make one thing clear. The Oilers have a major weakness in net. It is more pronounced in some cases than others, but the organization made a decision back in November and December (and doubled down at the deadline) by not acquiring another goalie, specifically a 1B or backup to split duties with Skinner.
Since the options are Pickard, who has only played in five playoff games in his 13 season NHL career, Campbell, who played his way down to AHL backup this season, and Rodrigue, who has zero games of NHL experience, it makes sense why none of these options would be particularly trustworthy.
Who would you roster as the Oilers backup goalie? Drop a comment down below!
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
