The Edmonton Oilers made a couple of roster moves on Thursday, including recalling blue-liner Cam Dineen from the Bakersfield Condors. However, it's the move in the opposite direction which has a lot of people particularly interested.
Goaltender Olivier Rodrigue has been sent back to Bakersfield, which effectively means Stuart Skinner is ready to return to action. Rodrigue finally got to make his NHL debut, but only had one other appearance as the Oilers decided to lean heavily on Calvin Pickard during Skinner's injury absence.
Skinner missed seven games in total, with Pickard starting six of them and going 4-2-0. His only bad outing was the first one against the Seattle Kraken, when he allowed five goals and was removed after the second period at Climate Pledge Arena.
Calvin Pickard's play might provide a dilemma for the Oilers
Pickard recorded a .917 save percentage in the five games following the Kraken debacle, and overall aserted himself in his extended role as the Oilers' number one. This leads to the question of what the team should do now that Skinner is back?
In theory Skinner should return to being the de facto number one, with this now being his third season in the position. Further, this is the same goalie who backstopped the Oilers all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season, before the heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on the road.
The thing is though, is this still the same goalie as the one from last season? The reality is that Skinner just hasn't been as productive in 2024-25, leading to more concern than ever about the stability of the position between the pipes.
Stuat Skinner just hasn't been that good for the Oilers this season
The truth is that Skinner is on course for the worst season of his NHL career to date, with us not including his first season in 2020-21 when he only played in one game. As things stand, his .894 save percentage, 2.91 GAA, .458 quality starts percentage, 12 really bad starts, 107 GA%- and -8.6 GSAA will all be career-wosts.
In comparison Pickard is on course to finish better in all of the aforementioned statistical categories. And keep in mind Pickard has achieved this in 29 starts and 34 overall appearances, with both being his highest totals since career-bests in 2016-17.
Now we have no doubt that Skinner has the higher ceiling of the two goalies, while also proving he can come through when the stakes are highest. However, he's also more inconsistent, exemplified by struggling in the early stages of each playoff round last season during the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Ultimately we suspect Kris Knoblauch will still prefer to go with Skinner as his main man, combined with wanting to give him enough reps in the four remaining regular season games ahead of the playoffs. However, at least the Oilers coach knows he has someone in Pickard who can step in and perform well, if his preferred choice isn't up to the task at hand.
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