We're the first to admit we've had our concerns at times with Stuart Skinner - not with his talent, but rather his consistency or lack thereof. He can at times be infuriating between the pipes for the Edmonton Oilers, but this is also in part due to him being a likeable person among teammates, opponents, the media and fans alike, hence he has a lot of people rooting for him.
In addition, as much as Skinner can have bouts of poor play at the most inexplicable of times, he usually steps up when it matters most. This was proven during last season's playoffs, when he excelled from Game 4 onwards in each series, and eventually backstopped the Oilers to within one win of the ultimate goal of Stanley Cup glory.
The point in all of this, is that The Hockey Writers have unveiled their midseason ranking of all 32 starting NHL goalies, and we have to say we're shocked by where Skinner has been placed. For some reason, Stephen Ground has seen fit to put the Edmonton native all the way down in the 26th spot?!?!
The methodology of The Hockey Writers
Before we delve into this asinine ranking, let's provide the methodology behind Ground's thinking, with him saying it is two-fold. On the one hand, he does look at the play of the goalies for this season specifically, focusing on statistical categories including save percentage, Goals Against Average (GAA), Goalie Point Shares (GPS), Quality Start Percentage, Really Bad Starts (RBS) and Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA).
However, Ground does not want to put too much emphasis on just this season, saying that it's important to consider the history of all 32 goalies in question. So how does Skinner shape up in all of this? (Please note, the following goalie statistics are all prior to the NHL's slate of games on Wednesday night.)
Well to begin with, let's consider his relevant stats in 2024-25 at the time of writing, which include a .902 save percentage, 2.69 GAA, 5,4 GPS, .545 quality start percentage, a 7 RBS and 0.3 GSAA. Now yes, there's no denying there are some decidedly average stats in that list, but do they really make him worthy of only ranking 26th?
It turns out that while Skinner's stats are still ho-hum regardless, he is still better than 26th in all six statistical categories Ground uses for the 32 goalies in question. The 26-year-old is tied-20th in save percentage, 16th in GAA, 17th in GPS, 19th in quality starts percentage and 20th in GSAA.
The caveat with Stuart Skinner and his RBS
You will note that the one statistical category we left out was RBS, where Skinner is only tied-24th and has just six goalies ranked lower. Even here however, you have to factor in that he is also ranked tied-12th for most starts among the 32 goalies, giving him a RBS percentage of 21.2 which ranks 21st. (Admittedly still not great.)
In respect of Ground's comments about Skinner's play this season, he doesn't think he's a terrible goalie, but does believe his average play is holding back one of the best teams in the NHL. In this respect, we will agree he's playing average compared to the starting goalies as a whole, but not bad enough to only be ranked 26th.
Which brings us to the other part of Ground's methodology, about the historical performance of goalies. This only heightens the mystery of Skinner's poor ranking, with this actually being his worst statistical season since become the Oilers number one two seasons ago.
It is noted by Ground that Skinner hasn't been as good since his first season as a starter in 2022-23, but that surely counts as part of his history, combined with it only being the season before last! In any event, we would contend that he was pretty damn good last season as well.
The 2017 third round draft pick set single season career bests last season with a 2.62 GAA, .614 quality starts percentage and 36 wins. And if you want to go on his historical resume, as already mentioned, last time we checked he was in goal for the majority of the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final.
To summarise, we know Skinner is a talented but flawed goalie, who primarily still needs to work on his consistency to reinforce his position as the long-term number one in Edmonton. However, while we have objectively taken into account Ground's breakdown, to call the Oilers goalie only the 26th-best goalie in the NHL, is quite frankly ridiculous.