Oilers could get an even better season from Stuart Skinner in 2023-24

While it would be impossible to say that Connor McDavid wasn’t the Edmonton Oilers MVP last season, Stuart Skinner may have been the runner-up.

Entering last season as a bit of a question mark in the backup role, Skinner wound up being this team’s number-one goaltender in the new year and started all 13 of their playoff outings. Had it not been for the great regular season play from the 24-year-old, last season could have been ugly for the Oilers.

Going into last season, the thought was that Jack Campbell, who signed a five-year, $25 million deal last summer, would start the bulk of games. However, he struggled right from the get-go and ended the year with a 3.41 goals against average (GAA) paired with a .888 save percentage (SV%). Those numbers made him impossible to trust, and luckily for Jay Woodcroft and the rest of the Oilers, Skinner stepped up in a big way.

By the time the 2022-23 season came to a close, Skinner had appeared in 50 contests. Despite the much heavier workload than expected, he remained solid throughout, compiling a 2.74 GAA along with a .914 SV%. He finished second in Calder Trophy voting, trailing only Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers. The strong play continued what has been a quick rise for the young goaltender.

After being selected in the third round of the 2017 draft, Skinner played two more seasons in the WHL before turning pro. Things didn’t look great early on, as he struggled both in the ECHL and AHL in his first two professional seasons and didn’t seem likely to have much of an NHL future ahead of him.

In his third pro season, however, he began to get more comfortable, recording a 2.38 GAA along with a .914 SV% in 31 games. Something seemed to click for him that season, and his game has continued to improve ever since.

Suddenly, he is being looked at as the number one goalie on a Stanley Cup-contending team, when just a year ago, there were questions on whether he was capable of being their backup. While the sophomore slump is always a concern, he seems like a safe bet to continue this upward trajectory he has been on over the past three years.

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