Let’s Break Down The Edmonton Oilers Goaltending
Stuart Skinner is currently thriving in the AHL. In 24 games played he is has a GAA of 2.26 and a SV% of 0.920. Those are excellent numbers to have over that big of a sample size. This is in the AHL though, not the NHL. In the NHL the players are better and the game is faster. I don’t expect him to have those numbers if he gets called up to the NHL.
Statistically, Skinner has the best numbers of the three goalies. If the Edmonton Oilers want to give Skinner a fair chance to take the starting role for the end of the season they will need to get him starts soon. You don’t want him to come in and play when your team is in a do or die spot. Let him get used to the speed of the NHL before the playoffs.
| Goal | Goal | Goal | Goal | Goal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Date | G | Opp | GA | SA | SV | SV% | SO | PIM | TOI | |
| 1 | 2021-11-09 | 1 | DET | L | 3 | 38 | 35 | .921 | 0 | 0 | 58:20 |
| 2 | 2021-11-12 | 2 | BUF | L | 3 | 23 | 20 | .870 | 0 | 0 | 57:48 |
| 3 | 2021-11-16 | 3 | WPG | L | 0 | 8 | 8 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 19:02 |
| 4 | 2021-11-18 | 4 | WPG | W | 1 | 47 | 46 | .979 | 0 | 0 | 64:42 |
| 5 | 2021-11-20 | 5 | CHI | W | 2 | 31 | 29 | .935 | 0 | 0 | 59:48 |
| 6 | 2021-11-23 | 6 | DAL | L | 4 | 33 | 29 | .879 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 |
| 7 | 2021-12-03 | 7 | SEA | L | 4 | 34 | 30 | .882 | 0 | 0 | 58:05 |
| 8 | 2021-12-09 | 8 | BOS | L | 3 | 30 | 27 | .900 | 0 | 0 | 57:43 |
| 9 | 2021-12-16 | 9 | CBJ | W | 2 | 38 | 36 | .947 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 |
| 10 | 2021-12-18 | 10 | SEA | W | 3 | 17 | 14 | .824 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 |
| 11 | 2022-01-15 | 11 | OTT | L | 5 | 25 | 20 | .800 | 0 | 0 | 58:55 |
| 12 | 2022-01-29 | 12 | MTL | W | 2 | 23 | 21 | .913 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 |
| 13 | 2022-02-14 | 13 | SJS | W | 0 | 20 | 20 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 59:46 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com:
Generated 3/29/2022.
Skinner is the only Edmonton goalie not to get pulled this season. In his 12 starts he has won 6 of them. He won half the games he started, that puts him between Koskinen and Smith. In his 13 games played he had a SV% less than 0.900 5 times, 38% of his starts he is below the 90% mark. That is the best out of the three goalies.
The one problem with Skinner is he is currently in the AHL with two veteran goalies ahead of him. As much as we all think that Skinner should be getting some starts in the NHL, he has to jump two goalies. I think in order for him to get a look, either Koskinen or Smith will need to have a streak where lose multiple games in a row in which they play bad.
In My Opinion
I think Smith has a shorter leash than Koskinen does. If Smith has two bad starts coming up, I think he will sitting in the press box watching Skinner sit in his spot. I hope it doesn’t happen, because as mentioned above I think Smith is the goalie with the highest ceiling.
If the Edmonton Oilers make the playoffs, they will need their goalies to bring their A game if they want to go on a run. I honestly don’t care which goalie it is, but if they can take the Edmonton Oilers to the conference finals I am going to be a very happy fan.
Next. Do the Edmonton Oilers need Zack Kassian anymore?. dark