The Edmonton Oilers man with a mustache, has seen a lot of criticism throughout the NHL regular season and even more in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. Stuart Skinner, has already been in the league for five seasons, and he has not looked amazing.
The issue with Skinner is that he’s regressed every year he’s been in the league. You don’t get a Calder nomination for nothing, but he’s been increasingly hot and cold and more frozen than warm these days. He made a handful of saves that were worthy of praise, but he’s good for one or two soft goals a game and more importantly, can’t currently be depended on to bail the team out if needed.
– Alex
Stuart Skinner’s NHL career, so far
26-year-old, (78th overall), third round, 16th pick Skinner, has had plenty of high and low moments already in his career.
2020–21
Stuart Skinner only started one game in 2020–21, where he received his first NHL win, a GAA of 5.03 and a save percentage of .868% That first game was against the Ottawa Senators on January 31, 2021.
2021–22
During this season, he started a total of 12 games and was 50/50. Skinner ended up with six wins and six losses. He had a GAA of 2.62, and this was the first time that he had a save percentage above .900 at .913 respectively. He also had his first career shutout, which he got in his last game against the San Jose Sharks on February 14, 2022.
2022–23
This is the season where Stuart Skinner truly started to shine. He also got one shutout this season as well. We cannot forget about his two assists that happened once on December 15, 2022 and again on April 13, 2023.
He led goalies in wins (29) and games (50) and was third in save percentage (.914) and fifth in goals-against average (2.75) among rookies to play at least 10 games and was named a finalist for the Calder Trophy, given annually to the best rookie in the NHL as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
2023–24
We all know what happened this year, when Stuart Skinner was almost able to take the Edmonton Oilers all the way to the Mount Rushmore of hockey.
With 57 starts, Skinner finished the season with 36 wins, 16 losses, and five OT losses. He had two shutouts, a GAA of 2.62 and a save percentage of .905.
It was not until the playoffs where the magic was almost able to happen. With 23 starts in his second career and second straight postseason run, Skinner ended up with 14 wins, nine losses, a GAA of 2.45, and a save percentage of .901. Skinner also received one shutout, one assist, and one penalty in this postseason as well.
The Oilers would find themselves down there games to none in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, but Skinner played unreal in the next three games that allowed Edmonton to tie the series and force a Game 7. Unfortunately, that was all that happened when the Oilers lost 2–1 (one goal) and watched as Florida went on to lift the Stanley Cup.
2024–25
This season, was all over the map for Stuart Skinner. He started a total of 50 games, where he finished with 26 wins, 18 losses, and four overtime losses. He had a GAA of 2.81, which was his worst since 2022–23 and had one of the lowest save percentages of his career since 2020–21 with a .896% He also had the most shutouts in one season in his career with three.
How this year’s playoffs have been different
The 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs currently going on, have definitely not been the same at all for Stuart Skinner. After being the Oilers starter all year in the regular season, that has not been the case in the postseason with Skinner having only played three games to date.
The playoffs have unfortunately been nowhere near where they need to be for Skinner, who has now lost all three games that he has played. With a .817 save percentage and a 5.36 GAA, things have not looked okay for the Oilers netminder.
Skinner had just played his first game back since April 23, on May 10 in Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights. With Calvin Pickard out and listed as day-to-day, who has also been reliable for the Oilers, they had to look to Skinner to re-write the story that has been written. Unfortunately that did not work out, with four goals being allowed and a .833 save percentage being the stat line in this game.
Where do the Edmonton Oilers and Stuart Skinner go from here?
With Skinner’s future currently looking uncertain, he only has one year remaining on his contract and I really think that it is safe to say that the Oilers will most likely not be re-signing him to a new contract.
We will see where this all leads, and we hope that he can play better next year. For now, here are some memes for your entertainment.
Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire
One Comment