Ex-Edmonton Oilers goalie Skinner could be headed to another Canadian NHL team
Stuart Skinner may be headed back to Canada next season.
The former Edmonton Oilers goalie is set to be one of the best free agent goalies available this summer, and it appears he’s already drawing interest from a Canadian NHL team. While the Oilers are in need of a goaltender change, it doesn’t appear a return to the Alberta capital is very likely.
Instead, it sounds like it could be the Canadian capital, as the Ottawa Senators are reportedly eyeing up Skinner as one of their top offseason targets. The Ottawa Citizen‘s Bruce Garrioch recently reported on the Senators’ interest in the Edmonton native.
“A name to keep an eye on is Pittsburgh Penguins unrestricted free agent Stuart Skinner,” Garrioch wrote late last week. “The expectation is he won’t be back with the Penguins next season, and the belief is he will be among Ottawa’s top targets in free agency.”
Skinner makes a world of sense for the Senators, who struggled to find a competent backup goalie to starter Linus Ullmark last season. The 27-year-old Skinner has always performed better in a lesser role, and sharing the net with a bona fide starter like Ullmark would take a lot of pressure off his plate.
Things didn’t get much better for Stu after being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins last December. In 27 games with the Penguins, he posted a mediocre 12-9-5 record with a .885 save percentage.
Old problems crept back up for Skinner in the playoffs, as he lost three straight to the Philadelphia Flyers before losing the starting job to Arturs Silovs. That made it three consecutive seasons where he lost the starter’s net in the playoffs, after being relieved by Calvin Pickard in both 2024 and 2025.
It remains to be seen what Skinner’s next NHL contract will look like. His current cap hit is sitting at $2.6 million, and AFP Analytics is projecting his next deal to up that to $3.8 million on a two-year contract.
We’ll see if the Senators can bring Skinner back to Canada or if he will end up elsewhere when free agency opens on July 1.