Smith Returns But Stuart Skinner Showed His Worth With The Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are facing off against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday in what is their first game back after a long holiday break due to the pandemic. For the Oilers, this will be their first matchup in a while without Stuart Skinner on the team.

With Mike Smith set to return from injured reserve, Stuart Skinner has been re-assigned to Bakersfield. During the nine games Skinner played in this season he put up a 2.7 goals-against average and a save percentage of .916, not bad for the young goalie.

Mike Smith was injured after just two games this season, this will be his first matchup since October. While it was hard being without the Oilers’ number one goalie, the team made it work.

In Mike Smith’s absence Mikko Koskinen stepped up to the plate and helped Edmonton get to where they are today, so did Stuart Skinner who stepped into the crease and gave Edmonton an opportunity to win every night.

While a record of 4-5-0 might not be great, Skinner did show he belongs in the long-term plan for this team. After this season, Mikko Koskinen will be off the books. At that point maybe the team can go forward with Smith and Skinner. Even if they can’t further down the line he is going to get a chance with this team considering he is just 23 at this time.

Ilya Konovalov has been recalled to the taxi squad during the same release that sent Skinner to the AHL. The Edmonton Oilers are going to have some injury problems as the year continues, every team is. But having players like Stuart Skinner get called up and shine is a nice thing to see.

I cannot wait to see who the next top player to step into the lineup will be. Being a championship team involves depth and having different players step in during a long season. Edmonton has talent and can hopefully have young players rise to the occasion.