Stan Bowman lays out plan for Edmonton Oilers goalies next season
The Edmonton Oilers look primed to run back their goaltending tandem for a third-straight season.
Despite two straight years of questionable performances between the pipes, the Oilers seem comfortable with their goalie duo of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard heading into the 2025-26 NHL season.
GM Stan Bowman did sign AHL goalie Matt Tomkins in free agency, but he isn’t expected to sniff NHL time with the Oilers unless an injury or two occurs. It’s a surprising twist for Edmonton, as many expected some sort of major change to take place this summer.
Yet, as the offseason drew on and options came off the board, the narrative slowly started to shift. Bowman was on the 100% Hockey podcast with John Shannon and Daren Millard on Monday, where the Oilers GM gave a midsummer update on the goalie situation.
Shannon straight-up asked if Skinner and Pickard would be the two goalies going into training camp, and Bowman gave a very candid answer.
“That’s the way it looks right now,” Bowman said. “Never say never, we looked at a lot of different options, and I think there were a lot of good things we did last year.”
The biggest change made to that position this offseason had nothing to do with adding or subtracting any players. Instead, the team opted to cut ties with longtime goalie coach Dustin Schwartz and hire former Chicago Blackhawks goalie coach Peter Aubry.
Bowman knows Aubry well from their time together in Chicago and thinks he can help improve Edmonton’s goaltenders.
“I felt maybe a little bit of a different look would be good for our organization,” Bowman said. “I think [Aubry] is a very collaborative guy, which I like… I feel like we can maybe be a collaborative group a little bit differently than we were.”
Bowman has not been immune to the amount of noise surrounding his goaltenders throughout last season and heading into the summer. He admitted that Edmonton looked at a lot of different goalie options this summer, but ultimately didn’t find anything that made a lot of sense for the group.
He also gave some insight into his philosophy when it came to potentially upgrading the goaltending over this offseason.
“One thing I noticed about Edmonton is there is a lot of focus on the goaltending,” Bowman said. “I understand that, I do. You respect the fan’s passion, I wouldn’t want it the other way around, where they’re indifferent to the team.
“To change something just to change it, I don’t know that I’ve ever been a big fan of that. You have to be confident that the change you’re making is an improvement. When we looked around at the options, there was nothing that made sense.”
It’s a risky move to stay with the same duo for another season, especially coming off two straight losses in the Stanley Cup Final. A lot of pressure will be put on Aubry to solve the struggles of Skinner, and if there aren’t immediate results to start the season, the noise surrounding the goaltending will only get louder in the Alberta capital.