Stuart Skinner Set To Face First Test of Pivotal Season

What a difference a year makes.

View the original article to see embedded media.

This time last year, the starting spot in the Oilers' crease was up for grabs. Jack Campbell, the team's big free agent acquisition a year earlier, was coming off a tough first season in Edmonton. Rookie Stuart Skinner had outperformed him in 2022-23, but his contract meant he was still going to get every opportunity to win back the starter's job.

Campbell got the start in the season opener, allowing 4 goals on 16 shots before getting pulled. Things only went downhill from there, as both Campbell and Skinner were awful in the month of October, leading to Campbell's demotion after just five games with an .873 save percentage.

Skinner took over from there, finishing in the league's top five in starts (57) and wins (36), posting a .905 save percentage and saving 2.0 goals above expected (per MoneyPuck). He followed that up with 14 wins, a .901 SV%, and another 1.9 GSAx in the playoffs. His save percentage in elimination games was a sparkling .928.

Now, for the first time in his career, the starting job undeniably belongs to Skinner. The season starts tonight for the Edmonton-born netminder, as he'll get the start in the Oilers' fourth pre-season game in Winnipeg.

Expectations are high for Edmonton this season, due in no small part to their newfound stability in net. The Oilers put their trust in Skinner this summer, opting to re-sign backup Calvin Pickard instead of bringing in a 1B to Skinner's 1A.

Skinner is also gaining respect around the league. In a sport where goaltending means everything and yet is almost impossible to predict, the Oilers' netminder was ranked as the 12th-best goalie in the league in The Athletic's Player Tiers this week, just outside the ranks of the elite. The EA NHL series -- whose player ratings are more reputation-based than anything -- deems Skinner as an 86 overall, tied for 13th at his position.

The Athletic's projection model pegs Skinner as a well above average goalie this year, projecting him for a .909 SV% and +8 Net Rating. That last figure is higher than the projections for Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger, Jacob Markstrom, and Sergei Bobrovsky. ESPN's fantasy projections peg him for 32 wins and a .906 SV%.

Backstopping a Stanley Cup contender isn't Skinner's only big opportunity this season. In a historically weak period for Canadian goaltending, Skinner stands out as one of his country's best options in net for February's Four Nations Face-Off. He'll have stiff competition from Vegas' Adin Hill and St. Louis' Jordan Binnington, but he'll have ample opportunity to impress GM Don Sweeney and the rest of the Team Canada brass that the starting job should be his.

If he can win that job and perform well in February, he'll have the inside track on the starting job for the 2026 Olympics in Milan.

That's still a long way off, but Skinner's possible road to the Olympics starts tonight at 6:00 MT in Winnipeg.

With a Stanley Cup and a chance to represent his country on the line, the 25-year-old netminder heads into this season under a lot of pressure. That's never hurt him before, though.

​​Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss news, interviews, or any other updates on the Oilers.

Related: Oilers Forward Prospect Impresses Head Coach

Related: Oilers New Additions Earn Feature Role

Related: Oilers Make First Cuts, Send Four Rookies Down to Juniors

Related: Oilers Stars Earn Strong High Praise From Experts

Related: Dylan Holloway Makes A Statement In Debut For New Team

Related: Connor McDavid Dazzles as Oilers Drop Split-Squad Games to Flames