Can Stuart Skinner hold down the fort in the Oilers’ crease?

Stuart Skinner is in his third season with the Edmonton Oilers, but it is the first fall where he has a clear grasp on the starter’s job. In his rookie season, he took over for Jack Campbell, who had been brought in to take the bulk of the starts. Last season Jay Woodcroft led a goalie battle, resulting in Campbell getting the season opening start before Skinner once again took hold of the net.

In a season where the Oilers’ goaltending has the biggest question mark on it, can Skinner hold down the fort and be the reliable starter the Oilers need?

Skinner’s playing career

Skinner is an Edmontonian through and through. He was born here, and played his minor hockey for Southside Athletic Club. He was selected in the first round (17th overall) of the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft by the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He would go on to play 182 games over four seasons for Lethbridge, before he was traded to the Swift Current Broncos for playoff run. He finished his WHL career with 207 total regular season games, with a 3.22 GAA, .908 SV%, and 12 shutouts. Skinner was even better in the playoffs, posting a .922 SV%, 2.66 GAA and six shutouts over 50 games in addition to a WHL Championship with Swift Current.

In junior, Skinner proved he could deliver when it mattered most, clearly a trait the Oilers admired and one they’re banking on him emulating in the NHL.

However, Skinner struggled when he first turned pro, spending time split between the Wichita Thunder and Bakersfield Condors with middling results at both levels. The turning point in Skinner’s career came during the Canadian Division season. Mike Smith got hurt right before the season opened, leading to Skinner backing up Mikko Koskinen for the first part of the season. When Smith got healthy, the Oilers gave Skinner one start against the Ottawa Senators. The work he had put in with Goaltending Coach Dustin Schwartz led to a ton of progress, but Skinner was quoted after the game saying it opened his eyes of how much development he still had.

In true Skinner fashion, he went to work.

The Edmontonian then went down to Bakersfield again, where he started nearly every game for the Condors. The Condors ended up winning the Pacific Division playoffs, with Skinner going 4–2 in the two best-of-three series. The 2021–22 season saw Skinner split time between the NHL and AHL, giving Oilers hope at a NHL future.

He started the 2022–23 season as a fully fledged backup to Campbell, but ended up starting 50 regular season games last season, putting up a .914 SV% and finishing second in Calder Trophy voting. He stumbled in the playoffs, putting up an .883 SV% with starts in all 12 playoff games, getting pulled four times.

Last season was pointing more towards a time share, but Skinner took the reigns once again, playing 82 games, putting up a .905 SV% in the regular season and .901 SV% in the playoffs. He lost the net in the Vancouver series for two games after struggles through the first four games of that second round. He bounced back, winning both Game 6 and Game 7. Skinner then went on to steal two games in the Dallas series, before making key saves early in the Oilers’ three wins in the Stanley Cup Final.

Skinner was battle tested last season and though he did falter, those lessons allowed him to reset and provide quality goaltending down the stretch. Though the Oilers are just 1–3 to start the year, it’s this experience and these lessons that will enable Skinner to overcome adversity better than he ever has.

As well, Skinner has another goal likely lurking in the back of his head. With the return of best on best coming this upcoming February with the 4-Nations Cup, Skinner is one of the contenders to man Canada’s crease at the tournament. Other potential selections for GM Doug Armstrong could be Adin Hill, Jordan Binnington, Sam Montembeault, Tristan Jarry, and Connor Ingram. However, Skinner’s recent ability to handle a workload and recent playoff experience will likely give him an edge. He’ll have to prove that last season wasn’t a fluke, though.

Skinner’s technical strengths

Skinner’s strengths and weaknesses have become pretty obvious to any Oilers fan paying attention. Skinner is an extremely strong positional goalie, who is able to react to shots he can get set on and see, and control rebounds on those shots. It results in an extremely predictable style of play, when he is on.

Skinner’s got an extremely big frame. However, it is not mobile. The result is that Skinner’s lateral mobility can be limited and makes it tough for him to react to dynamic seam passes. Skinner has also been plagued with inconsistency. Technically, everything seems fine, but there seems to be an occasional mental block that comes up intermittently. The Oilers hired psychologist George Mumford, who had reportedly helped Skinner with this, and seemed to find some resolution based on Skinner’s return to the net late in the playoffs.

Will Skinner rise to the challenge?

Skinner is the clear starter for the Oilers entering this season, and will likely play a total of games in the high 50s/lows 60s. After playing in 82 games total in last year, Skinner’s endurance will be tested. Reportedly Skinner is expecting a second child come January, so he will get a bit of a reprieve for a paternity leave, but he might end up playing extra games for Team Canada in February.

Overall, Skinner’s slower start to the year shouldn’t be overreacted to. The combination of his pedigree as a winning goalie at multiple levels, the experience of last year’s turbulent season and deep playoff run, and potentially some new dad energy should allow Skinner to handle this adversity well, and emerge stronger on the other side.

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Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire