What’s behind the Oilers’ recent turnaround?
By Phil Gretzky
3) Betting goaltending
Since we’re only 85 games into Stuart Skinner’s career, we’re still not 100 percent sure what we have in him yet.
But one inalienable truth is evident, with the rebirth of better defensive play from the skaters has been a reduction in grade-A dangerous shots and shots against.
You can never completely blame a goalie for his play, as it is very dependent on the players in front of him. If they constantly hang him out to dry, don’t block shots, don’t hit the opposing players enough, don’t poke check, and don’t snuff out the opposition’s attack, then it doesn’t matter who the goalie is, the goaltending will suffer if team defence is terrible in front of him.
We saw this with Skinner earlier in the season. When team defence suffered so did his goaltending. Campbell was struggling himself as well and is unfortunately still struggling in Bakersfield. Skinner was playing around a .930 save percentage during the winning streak, and that’s a heck of a turnaround. So, although his season numbers at this point don’t look great, there’s reason to hope for a better second half of the season and change.
As for who will platoon with Skinner that position remains in flux right now. Calvin Pickard, of course, was called up once Campbell was sent down and has actually been a pleasant surprise. He started for the team against New Jersey and absolutely killed it, turning aside 26 of 27 shots on goal, including a few key saves, and finished the night with a .962 save percentage.
The million-dollar question is this – is Pickard the answer long-term for the Oilers? Right now the answer is probably not, but late bloomers have happened before in goal, even on this team (Dwayne Roloson, anyone?) so don’t write anyone’s career epitaph when it barely starts.
At the very least Pickard should’ve used that game in New Jersey to secure himself more starts in the future. Let’s hope Knoblauch agrees instead of just starting Skinner all the time. No offence, but I don’t think Skinner can handle 60 games a season right now, especially at this point in his career. Don’t rule out Pickard getting a one-way extension at this point.
Complicating things even more is the play of Olivier Rodrigue down in Bakersfield. It’s only been five games down there for him, but he has a .935 save percentage and a stingy 2.17 GAA, so it appears he should have at least worked himself into the conversation. Will he get a callup later in the season? If a playoff spot is more solidified and there isn’t more room to move up at the end of the season, I have no doubt he will.
Then of course there’s the rumor that Ken Holland is furiously working the phones trying to drum up a trade, especially if he can get rid of Campbell in the process. If Columbus remains in last place in the Metropolitan division closer to the end of the season, I have to think they’d be more amenable to trading away Elvis Merzlikens without asking for a king’s ransom in return.
Mackenzie Blackwood in San Jose is another intriguing option, granted you’re trading with a division rival in that case and the Oilers might be forced into an overpay. Jake Allen on the Habs would be a good short-term option, but at 33 I doubt he has 5+ years left in the tank.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens in this regard. I expect things to heat up at the trade deadline in a few months.