Will the Edmonton Oilers trade Stuart Skinner to help upgrade goaltending?
The Edmonton Oilers’ goaltending woes have continued into the new season, and it might be time to start seriously considering making a big move.
It’s been yet another slow start to the season in the Alberta capital, and it took no time at all for questions around the goaltending to start up once again. This has been a constant with this tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, with no end in sight.
Skinner has struggled to find consistency, while Pickard has put up some of the worst stats across the entire league through the first month. That’s despite the Oilers bringing in a new goalie coach, Peter Aubry, over the summer. The goaltending isn’t the only issue, but it remains a significant one. Edmonton has played 14 games this season, and only four of those included one of their goaltenders posting a save percentage above .900.
Could the solution be swinging a trade to move Skinner and bring in a new guy between the pipes?
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug said on 880 CHED late last week that he thinks the team wouldn’t be afraid of trading Skinner if it meant getting an upgrade.
āIf a deal comes up that allows Stan Bowman to make a trade tomorrow that he knows in his gut is an upgrade in net and it involves moving on from Stuart Skinner, itās done. No question,” Rishaug said.
“I don’t think that deal is gonna happen, I don’t think that deal is there to be had. I don’t think there would be a second’s hesitation to do the deal if he knew he could improve that position tomorrow. Why would he hesitate?”
According to TSNās Ryan Rishaug, speaking on Oilers Now on 880 CHED, the Oilers are expected to upgrade their goaltending if things donāt improve by January. š#Oilers #BleedOilBlue #LetsGoOilers #YEG pic.twitter.com/4kPyqv5BjS
— Bleed Oil Blue (@BleedOilBlue) November 3, 2025
If the Oilers did opt to dangle Skinner in a trade to upgrade the goaltending, nobody can say that they didn’t give the Edmonton native every position to succeed. He was the starting goaltender on one of the NHL’s best teams over the last few seasons and routinely lost the net during two separate runs to the Stanley Cup Final.
Skinner has a .900 SV% on the season, but has been prone to letting in a bad goal or two almost every second game. Every step forward he takes seems to be accompanied by two steps back. Consistency, once again, has been his biggest challenge.
The Oilers fired the goaltending coach this summer to give him a new voice, and there has still been little to no improvement. Of course, another thing to consider is Connor Ingram, who is currently getting back up to speed down in the AHL and could be an option if things continue to slide.
“In lieu of [a trade] happening, they put a plan B in place; they’re gonna see what happens in the American Hockey League with Ingram. That’s a possibility,” Rishaug said.
“If by December/January, it doesn’t look like Skinner is ready to take a step, and it isn’t very clear he’s made improvements, it’s not going well in the [AHL with Ingram], [Bowman] is gonna have no choice.”
Waiting until the New Year to address goaltending seems long, considering these issues have been prevalent for a couple of seasons now. However, the trade market is usually a bit more robust at that time of year, which may allow the Oilers some more options to work with.
Trading Skinner would leave Pickard on the roster, who has been much worse out of the gate. Perhaps the team could do a full swing in net, bringing in a new goalie through a Skinner trade and then placing Ingram as the backup. Pickard would then either need to be moved to the AHL or shipped off in a separate deal.
It’s been three seasons in a row where this tandem has provided more questions than answers, and it’s long overdue for something to be done to put an end to the controversy.