Edmonton Oilers goalie Skinner might still be on Canada's Olympic radar after all
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has plenty of motivation on his side heading into the 2025-26 season.
As if coming off of back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup Final weren’t enough, Skinner is also playing for a new contract. He’s set to become a UFA at the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign and will be hoping for a raise from his current $2.6 million cap hit. That still isn’t all he has to play for, either.
Hockey Canada released its 42-man orientation camp roster in preparation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics in February. To little surprise, Skinner, who struggled throughout the course of the 2024-25 season, was not included. Those calling the shots instead chose to only invite the same three goalies they featured on their roster at the 4 Nations Face-Off: Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault.
While many took this as a sign that Canada had no interest in changing up their goaltending for the Olympics, that may not be the case.
Doug Armstrong, who is serving as Canada’s GM for the upcoming Olympics, was questioned in an appearance on OverDrive on TSN 1050 Toronto on Thursday about going with just three goalies for the orientation camp.
“I’ve talked to probably six goalies that weren’t the three [named] and said that that’s probably our most competitive spot, our most open spot,” Armstrong said. “It just didn’t feel right bringing that large number of goalies to the camp, so we just went with the three, but I’ve talked to the other goalies and told them that it’s an open competition to play well and make our decisions hard in January. It’s open competition for that goaltending position.”
Based on those comments, it’s more than fair to Skinner was one of the many goalies Armstrong has spoken with.
Aside from Binnington, Hill, and Montembeault, there were only five other Canadian goalies who were number-one options for their respective teams in 2024-25. Those names include Skinner, Kuemper, Thompson, MacKenzie Blackwood, and Cam Talbot.
Tristan Jarry could be the sixth and final goalie Armstrong mentioned, though his chances of cracking this roster are slim to none, given that he was placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.
As far as Skinner is concerned, his odds at this time of representing Team Canada are low, but there’s an argument to be made that there are two goaltending spots behind Binnington that are up for grabs. Should he come out of the gates hot to start the 2025-26 season, he could wind up surprising many and making this team.
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